Gift of Light
by norik956
Summary: (Somewhat of a Rebirth of Light AU). Set after the events of the Clone Wars finale. Anakin was unable to locate Ventress and so Ahsoka was found guilty and sentenced to death. Ahsoka then finds herself waking up in a morgue. She's confused at first, but then the memories come back. She decides to leave for Shili, where a completely new and unexpected destiny awaits her.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 - Awakening**

 **First, let me say this: I am working on the Ilum chapters for both my Ahsoka and Barriss stories. However, the chapters are long and are will take quite some time.**

 **This is the opening chapter for a new story idea that I've had in my head for some time now. I'll continue with the llum chapter first, but I just wanted to get this chapter done.**

 **In some ways, this story is an alternate version of Rebirth of Light, hence the similar name. In this story, Ahsoka wakes up alone. After remembering what happened, she intends to leave Coruscant and go back to her homeworld of Shili, to try and start a new life there.**

 **I will say, to some this might not seem like the most serious story at times, but to me it seemed like an interesting idea to work out, so I hope people will like it as well.**

 **Hope you enjoy.**

 **;-**

Cold.

It was cold. That was the first thought that was able to form in her mind. She was cold. Whatever she was lying on was cold. Her body felt numb.

She tried to move, but her body only ached and refused to work with her. She felt tired and sore.

With some effort, she managed to open her eyes, but shut them immediately again. The light above her hurt her eyes. She took her time this time around and slowly opened her eyes to let them adjust to the light above her.

Her sight was a little hazy, but from what she could tell by moving her eyes, the room was mostly grey and just added more to the cold she felt. The light in the ceiling were a stark white, which only seemed to add even more to the chill.

After a few tries, she managed to raise her head enough to look forward. Amongst the grey, she saw an uneven and very pale orange shape. It took her a few moments to realize that she was looking down at her own body. She wasn't this pale before, at least she didn't think so.

Drained somewhat by the effort, she rested her head back again. " _How did I end up here?"_ she asked herself. She had no idea what happened. She let her mind drift back through her memories. The Gathering journey came to her mind, the battle on Onderon with Lux, her and Anakin one a mission, but being called back to the Temple because of the…

With a shocked gasp she jumped upright, gasping both in the agony of the sudden movement that her body didn't like and the horror of the nightmarish memories instantly appearing in her mind. Someone had bombed the Temple and framed her. She had been blamed for what had happened. They had hunted her down like some common criminal. Everyone had been after her, thinking that she was a monster. She had tried to get away to prove her innocence, but they had captured her. She had tried to tell them the truth, but no one had cared to listen to her. No one had believed her. She had been put on trial. Padmé had tried her hardest to defend her, but no one seemed to care. They were out for blood and their sights were set on her.

She had been found guilty and was sentenced to death. She shivered as she recalled the satisfying smirk on Tarkin's face. She had been placed in death row to wait for her execution. Several people had tried to get her to sign a confession, Shaak Ti included. The Togrutan Jedi Master she had always looked up to hadn't believed her either when she said that she was innocent and her words had been very hurtful. After she had left, all that she had been able to do was counting down the minutes towards her death.

She remembered the clones coming for her, preparing her for execution and then leading to her to the chamber where she would die. She remembered being strapped to that table, bound helplessly, saying a few final words and then the gas had started flowing into the room. It had become harder and harder to breathe, until finally, her eyes started to get very heavy. She had tried to fight it, but eventually, her eyes did fell shut and she felt herself fade away. Then there was nothing.

She drew a few shaking breaths and stared around the room. " _So… Am I dead?"_ she asked herself. " _Is this the Force?"_ It didn't much look like what she had expected the Force to be. Besides that, she could practically hear her heart pounding in her chest at the memories of what had happened.

Despite the strain in her body and its refusal to work with her, she managed to sit upright a bit more and hug her legs. She rested her head on knees and sobbed, not able to handle everything anymore at the moment. For a few minutes she just sat there, gently rubbing her legs, trying to get some feeling back into them.

She regained her composure a bit and stretched her legs out. She noticed that she was lying on what seemed to be some kind of metal examination table. There were what looked like cooling cells along one of the walls. " _A morgue?"_ she asked. " _I died, didn't I?"_

She just sat there and looked around, wondering about what would happen now. Everyone had wanted her dead. She assumed that everyone now thought she was dead, seeing how she was in a morgue.

She shivered again as she looked around the room. " _I want to get out of here,_ " she thought. " _But what do I do? Where do I go?"_ She rubbed her arms and legs, trying to restore the feeling in them. _"The Council just cast me aside like I was a common criminal. The entire Republic cried for my death. I don't think I want to have anything to do with them anymore._ " A few tears rolled down her cheeks.

She looked down at herself and the slight reflection of her face in the metallic table. The pale color of her skin made her feel ill in more ways than one. " _Shili…_ " she suddenly thought. Her people's homeworld was a neutral planet and had made it clear that they would remain neutral. One Togruta more wouldn't be noticeable in the cities or in one of the smaller tribes scattered across the planet. Seeing as she was presumed to be dead, she would easily be able to disappear there. That gave her a glimmer of hope in this dark place.

A slight nudge through the Force suddenly caught her attention. She carefully looked over in the direction she felt it from. On a desk of sorts stood a box with her name on it. She slid of the examination table and nearly fell to the floor, her legs still a bit weak. She slowly made her way over to the box and found that it contained the clothes she had been wearing while she was imprisoned. There was a long brown robe lying next to the box. It was perfect for hiding herself.

It took her several minutes to get her clothes on. Her body was sore, stiff and moving hurt quite a bit. Eventually, she did manage to get her old set of clothes on. However, she did notice with quite some sadness, that her necklace, Togruta Sash and Akul-tooth headdress were not there. The fact that she had lost those items made her feel like she had lost a part of herself.

For now she shook the thoughts away. At the moment, getting away from here must have the first priority. Besides, if she got to Shili, she could remake those items should she join a new tribe somewhere. With that in mind, she put on the robe. She pulled on the hood and looked at the door, wondering how to proceed from there. There was a push in her mind, another nudge from the Force. It seemed to look out for her, guiding her path out of here.

Deciding to follow what she felt, she slowly made her way over to the door. Very carefully, she opened it and peered out into the hallway. There was no one in sight and she was grateful for that. Taking it as a sign of good fortune, she moved into the hallway.

;-

It took her several minutes, but she finally managed to get out of the building. It was pitch black outside, she had no idea what time it was, but it was obviously in the middle of the night. " _Good, that means there'll be very little people outside,_ " she thought as she walked away from the nasty building.

After a short time of walking she sat down on a bench on the walkway to get some rest. Her body was still sore and just walking around was painful. She kept a wary eye on her surroundings, terribly frightened that an army of clone troopers would storm around the corner at any moment to kill her. Again…

She had no idea where to go now. She wanted desperately to get off the planet, but she didn't know how. She didn't have any money or travel clearance or anything. Despite that, she was supposed to be dead. How could she possibly explain that one to the spaceport security?

Seeing no other option, she decided to open herself to the Force slightly. It seemed to have been looking out for her so far, so she hoped that it would guide her now as well. It took her a moment to calm her thoughts enough, it was clear to her that she was a wreck, but she eventually managed.

A picture of what looked like a transport ship came to her mind. From the looks of it, it wasn't a very special ship. It likely belonged to some smaller transport company. From what she saw, it was currently undergoing some kind of repairs in what seemed to be a smaller hangar somewhere. She then saw that same ship leaving the planet and arriving on Shili.

She slowly opened her eyes again, she had her answer. In her vision, the hanger seemed empty, so she would be able to sneak on board. Ships like that always had plenty of places to hide.

" _That settles it then,_ " she thought. With some newfound determination, she got up and started making her towards the hangar she had seen. Fortunately for her, it wasn't too far away from her current location.

She would leave Coruscant and everything else behind now. A new life waited for her on Shili. But as the Force moved around her, guiding her towards where she wanted to go, she had no idea what kind of destiny it had planned for her.

 **;-**

 **That's it for this first chapter.**

 **In the next one, Ahsoka will arrive on Shili. She will try to find somewhere to go, but in her weakened state she won't get too far, but the Force won't abandon her either. It will lead her to someone that will help her on the path for her new chapter.**

 **But first I'll continue working on the Ilum chapters. I've already make quite some progress with those, but there's a lot more I want to add to both chapters. I'll be sure to upload them when they're both finished, but I won't upload them any sooner than that. I don't want to rush these chapters and upload them still incomplete.**

 **Until next time.**


	2. Chapter 2 - Departure and Arrival

**Chapter 2 – Departure and Arrival**

 **Alright, the second chapter for my new story. Ahsoka finds a ship and leaves for Shili. On Shili, she tries to make her way through the city, but in her bad condition, she doesn't make it too far.**

 **I would like to wish everyone a merry Christmas and a happy New Year. Let's hope 2017 will be a good year. If you celebrate something else, I hope you have a good time with that as well.**

 **All speech in this chapter will be in Togruti. If more languages are used I'll mention it here.**

 **Hope you enjoy.**

 **;-**

The hangar was empty.

" _Good,"_ Ahsoka thought with relief. She looked around the place just to be safe. There was no one in sight. The only thing in the hangar was the freighter she had seen in her vision. From the looks of it, the repairs on the ship had just been completed and all of the workers or droids had left.

For some reason she wouldn't know but was glad for, the ramp of the ship was still open. She slowly started making her way towards it. She was incredibly tired. Travelling to this hangar had worn her out more than she was willing to admit. She knew she was in a terrible condition after what happened, but she had no idea what exactly happened to her, how she was alive.

" _Those are questions for later, first I want to get out of here,_ " she thought as she walked. " _I just want to get away from Coruscant._ "

After boarding the freighter, she made her way to the engine room. These types of ships generally had large engine rooms with plenty of little nooks and crannies that she could easily hide in. She hoped it was the same for this ship.

She reached the engine room and gave a light smile of relief. It was just the kind of design she was hoping for. It would be easy to find someplace to hide in here. After looking around for a few minutes, she settled on hiding in a small corner between a larger part of the engine and a bunch of pipes and thick cables. It was a safe place to sit, she knew that from Anakin's lessons about ship engines, and it was also difficult to get into for those larger than her.

She settled herself into the hiding spot, trying to get as comfortable as possible on the hard metal. She rested her head against the wall next to her. Try as she might, she couldn't prevent her eyes from closing. For now, she drifted to sleep.

;-

A lot of tremors and sounds woke her up. A little startled, she very carefully peaked out from her hiding spot. The engine was activating, meaning that the ship's crew was back on board and that they would be leaving Coruscant soon. She was glad for that.

After about ten minutes, she could feel the ship lifting off. She kept quiet and didn't try to do anything until she felt the ship enter hyperspace. Only once she was certain that they were going away from Coruscant, did she dare to reach out with the Force very gently.

She could sense six people on board the ship. Five of them were in different areas of the ship, but one of them was close to the engine room and obviously making his way towards it. A little scared, Ahsoka tried to push herself a bit further into her hiding place.

She could hear the door open and someone walked in. He moved around the room, pausing several times at different places. She then heard the sound of a comm-transmission. "Riyec, how's the engine holding up?" a voice asked in Togruti.

"Captain, They seem to be working well," the man she assumed was Riyec replied in Togruti as well. "They had better be, especially with the prices those Coruscant pigs charged us. Just about our entire payment for this shipment is gone."

"Yeah, I hear that," the captain replied over the intercom. "Never mind it, let's just get home. We'll worry about it all later."

"Sounds good to me," Riyec said. "I could do with a break." The intercom shut down and the room was silent again, save for the humming of the engine and the footsteps of the man.

She assumed that both the man in the engine room and the captain were Togruta, seeing how they both spoke fluent Togruti.

She quietly tried to move up a bit, to see this man for herself. Her foot slipped and hit one of the smaller pipes next to her. Startled, she pulled her leg back and hugged her knees, hoping that the man walking in the engine room hadn't heard. Any other person probably wouldn't have, but she did see that the man walking around was indeed a Togruta like her and from the way he turned his head, he had obviously heard it.

He made his way close to where she was hiding. "Who is in here?" he asked in Togruti.

Ahsoka tried her best to remain silent, but she was breathing a bit heavily from the sudden scare. She was a stowaway on a ship, she had no weapons nor was she even in any fit state to put up even the slightest fight.

She shakily looked up to see a red-skinned Togrutan man looking at her from between the pipes. "Now who are you supposed to be child?" he asked her.

Riyec looked at the shivering girl hiding in the corner. She was a Togruta like him, in her early teens, probably sixteen at the most, but he could easily tell that there was something wrong with her. Her skin was a very pale orange, it was obvious that this wasn't her natural skin color. He speculated that it should probably be a deep orange or perhaps a shade of red. It was clear that she was scared, from the way she was looking at him.

"Did you sneak on board on Coruscant?" he asked her gently, trying not to frighten the girl any further. "I can understand why you would want to leave that rotting cesspool of a planet. Why don't you come on out from that hole? We'll go to the captain and see if we can't get you some place more comfy?"

Ahsoka shook her head at that. While this man seemed kind enough, she didn't really have any intention to get out. She didn't want to take the chance of any of them recognizing her and turning her over to the Republic.

Riyec sighed a bit. He could tell that whatever happened to this girl, it probably wasn't good. "You just trying to get back to Shili?" he then asked her. She did nod at that. "Alright, you just sit tight. Lemme see what I can do."

He got up and moved back to the intercom. "Cap'n, come in," he said through the intercom.

"What's going on Riyec?" the captain asked over the intercom. "Don't tell me that we have another problem with the engine."

Riyec laughed a bit at the question. Their previous engine issue had set them back immensely and they almost hadn't made it to Coruscant. "No, the engine is holding up nicely," he replied, hopefully reassuring the captain.

"Then what is going on?" the captain asked.

"We have a stowaway on board," Riyec replied as he gazed over to where the girl was hiding.

The intercom was silent for a moment. "Are you sure? Do you know what they're after?" the captain asked with some concern.

"Ah, don't worry cap'n," Riyec replied. "She's just a teenage girl, Togruta, like us. Trying to get home, I guess."

"They why didn't she just approach us instead of sneaking onboard?" the captain asked a moment later.

"Well, she doesn't look too good cap'n," Riyec replied. "She doesn't want to come out from her little hiding hole and she's pretty scared. Her skin is paler than Shili's moons, so I'm pretty sure she's ill. Something bad obviously happened to her, so she's just trying to get away from that corrupt planet."

"Well, can't say that I blame her," the captain said. "I don't see why anyone would want to live on that metal hulk of a planet. I'll take the open plains of home any day." The intercom was silent, then the captain sighed. "Go to the storage a moment. If she doesn't want to come out, see if you can't make her a bit more comfortable."

"I'll be glad to do so cap'n," Riyec replied. He was that the whole mess on Coruscant with repairing the ship hadn't put the captain in such a sour mood that he would forget his usual compassion.

"Oh, and Riyec," the captain continued. "Tell her to leave the ship after we all do. You know how things are now, sadly."

"Aye, that I do," Riyed replied a little saddened. He shut down the intercom and left the engine chamber.

;-

Ahsoka still sat in her spot on the ship. Thankfully, the man that had found her earlier seemed nice enough and it didn't look like him and his crew worked for any Republic company, so they hopefully wouldn't question her too much.

The door to the engine room opened again and someone walked in again. Whoever it was made their way straight towards her hiding spot. She held her breath, but then relaxed slightly as the man call Riyec appeared again.

"All right young lady," he said with a gentle smile. "If you don't want to come out, then we will at least make you a bit more comfortable."

At that point she noticed that he had some things with him. He placed down a small pillow and a thick blanket and shoved them a bit closer to her underneath the pipes. He also placed a closed bowl of sorts next to them. A bit of steam was coming from it. It was obviously a meal of sorts. The mere thought of food made her stomach growl.

Riyec smiled a bit at the look this girl was giving towards the bowl of food. "Also, take this," he said as he placed an old chrono on the floor. "Listen carefully now, when we reach Shili, after we have all left the ship, wait about 45 minutes before you make your way out. Trust me, you don't want to have to deal with the new immigration rules on Shili. Wait, then quietly leave the spaceport." With those words, he got up again and went to leave the engine room.

Ahsoka waited until she heard the door close again, then she quickly picked up the bowl of food. She opened it and found it was full of some form of stew, a dish she recalled was a recipe from Shili. The sight of it made her mouth water instantly. " _How long has it even been since I last ate?"_ she asked herself. She had no answer as she dived into the meal.

After she had finished the meal she had taken the thick blanket and wrapped it around her, its warmth was very welcome. The pillow was also very much appreciated as she placed it against the wall and rested her head against it.

She smiled lightly as she sat there. She felt a little bit better now that she had been able to eat something and had this blanket to warm her body up. She still felt cold, but it was better now, especially with the warmth coming from the engines.

Looking at the chrono that the engineer called Riyec had placed on the floor, she couldn't help but frown slightly. " _Why do I need to sneak away after they've landed?_ " she wondered. She figured that she would be able to seek out maybe some government officials and see about perhaps finding a lead on her family or something, but from the way he said it, it didn't seem like a good idea anymore. _"Does Shili have a different immigration system than the Republic does?_ " It seemed like the only logical explanation to her.

For now, she would settle on getting some much needed and desired rest. Then later, she would follow Riyec's advice and leave the ship after them. She would later see how to go from there, seeing as she could already feel herself drifting off to sleep.

;-

 _Several hours later_

Ahsoka sat in her corner, quietly watching the chrono in her hands. The freighter had landed on Shili about forty minutes earlier. Just before they had landed, Riyec had visited her again to remind her that she should wait before leaving the ship.

From the way he said it, it seemed that he was quite unhappy with the way things went on Shili now. It made her wonder just what had changed. She had never really followed political developments and because of the war, she hadn't been able to visit Shili since she had earned her headdress.

A trace of sadness flickered through her as she felt her forehead where her headdress used to sit. The fact that it wasn't there was a nasty reminder of what had just happened to her. She tried to shake the thoughts off for now. Worrying about that wouldn't help her right now. First, she needed to get somewhere safe.

She glanced at the chrono again. She figured that enough time had passed now. She climbed out of her hiding spot and stood up. She placed the borrowed blanket back on the floor and pulled up the hood of her robe. With that, she began to make her way out of the ship.

;-

Ahsoka slowly walked through the streets of Corvala, the capital city of Shili. The area of the spaceport where the freighter had docked had been quiet. She had been able to leave there without encountering anyone, thankfully.

She looked up at the sky. It was rapidly approaching nightfall on Shili. The light of the sun would soon be gone. She would need to find some place to spend the night and soon.

Thankfully, the Force was still guiding her like it did on Coruscant. She followed the path it seemed to have set out for her. She just hoped that it would lead her somewhere safe.

While walking through the residential area she was in, she felt her strength starting to drain again. " _Yet another reminder of what happened and in what kind of poor shape I am right now_ ," she thought with sadness.

After several more minutes of walking she started to feel incredibly tired. She stopped and leaned on the small fence next to her to catch her breath. As she waited there, she suddenly heard a door open.

;-

"Where have the old days gone?" the red skinned Togrutan woman asked herself with a sigh. She could still picture it all vividly, but chances of things returning to those days were pretty much non-existent, all because of _him_.

She shook her head and placed the last of the dishes away. Getting angry wouldn't help, it would only make things worse. Which is exactly why she was living her sister's family now instead of in her own home.

She walked away and let her gaze drift out the window next to her. She frowned as she saw a hooded figure leaning on the fence of the small front garden. She immediately made her made to the door. Just because this wasn't her house wouldn't mean that she won't defend it if necessary.

She stepped out the door and walked up a bit to the figure. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" she asked firmly.

The figure looked at her and stood up slightly. She could tell that she was a young girl, in her early teens probably. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to…" a series of coughs interrupted her. Her voice sounded pretty weak too. "I'll…just be…on…" the girl stuttered out as she tried to walk away. She took a few shaky steps, then collapsed to the ground.

"H-hey!" the woman uttered in shock as she quickly made her way to the young girl. She kneeled down next to her. "Are you alright?" she asked concerned. She rolled the girl over and her worry immediately increased. This girl looked dreadfully pale. She was breathing heavily, there was no doubt that she was ill. Making a quick decision, she picked the girl up and carried her inside.

"Krystah, can you bring me a blanket or something?" she called to her sister as she placed the girl on the couch. She was barely conscious.

Her sister walked in. "Silara? What's going on?" she asked as she walked a bit closer. Then she spotted the pale girl on the couch. "What happened? Who is she?"

Silara shook her head. "I don't know, she just collapsed right out the door. I couldn't just leave her lying there," she quickly explained. "She's very ill and she feels really cold. We need to try and warm her up a bit. Who knows what happened to her."

"Poor thing, she looks awful," Krystah replied. She shivered, imagining her own children in such a condition. "Let's try and get her a bit more comfortable."

"Let's put her in my room for now," Silara said as she looked at her sister. "We can't just leave her like this." Krystah nodded and they worked together to move the girl upstairs.

;-

Ahsoka felt something stir around her and she slowly returned to consciousness. She hadn't even realized that she had passed out. There was a hand close to her face and something in front of her face.

"Here, try to drink some water," an unknown voice said. It sounded female to her though.

She could feel a cup of sorts being placed to her mouth and the feeling of water flowing against her lips. She opened her mouth slightly and drank it. Feeling the refreshing liquid flow down her throat was very welcome.

The cup moved away again after a short moment. The drink had cleared her mind up quite a bit. She opened her eyes fully and looked around a bit. She was inside somewhere, in a bed of sorts with a thick blanket over her. Eventually, her eyes settled on the figure next to her. She was a Togrutan woman with red skin.

"Hello there young lady, are you feeling a bit better?" the woman asked.

Ahsoka blinked and stared at the woman dumbfounded for a moment. "Y-yeah, I think so," she replied softly. "W-what happened? Who are you?" she asked the woman.

"My name is Silara Triball," she replied. "You're at my sister's house. You collapsed right out the door. I couldn't just leave you lying there, so I brought you inside."

"Thank you," Ahsoka replied softly, a little stunned. She tried to sit upright but Silara stopped her.

"Don't try to move," she said quickly. "You're not well, that's pretty obvious. You should rest." She sat down on the side of the bed. "Now, what happened to you?"

Ahsoka looked away. She really didn't want to talk about what happened. She felt her eyes stung and her head throbbed from the memories.

Silara noticed the look on the girl's face. "It's okay, we don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," she said gently. "Is there someone I can contact for you?"

Ahsoka just stared up at the ceiling. "I don't know," she replied softly.

Silara studied the girl a moment. "Did you have fight or something? Do you not want to see them?" she asked gently. _"Something bad has obviously happened to her."_

"N-no," Ahsoka replied as she turned back to her slightly. "I… I just don't know. I only just got to Shili. I wouldn't know where…"

As she said that, Silara couldn't help but wonder what her story was, but she figured that she shouldn't pressure her right now. "Well, maybe I can help you," she offered. "I have a few friends around the city, maybe they can find your family. Can you tell me your name?" That question suddenly left her scared, she could instantly tell that from the look in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" Silara asked. "Why don't you want to tell me your name? I can help you and look for people while you rest."

Ahsoka looked at her with worried eyes. "I… I can't," she replied softly.

"Why not?" Silara asked. "Don't worry, we will look after you. You'll be fine."

Ahsoka shook her head slightly and looked away again. "They'll come after me again…" she replied softly.

Silara's eyes widened a bit at her words, but it also made things a bit clearer. " _So something bad did happen to her, but what? Pirates? Slavers? Other criminals?_ " she mused as she looked over the girl. "Don't worry, I won't let anyone take you," she told her. The girl looked at her again with worry in her eyes. Silara gave her a confident smile. "I was a member of the royal guard before. I am _still_ a very capable warrior. Anyone that tries to come in here uninvited will deeply regret it."

Ahsoka looked at this woman in surprise. She tried to study her a bit closer, as much as her tired mind would allow. This woman, Silara, did look pretty well trained now that she gave her a closer look. She very gently reached out with the Force. It confirmed that she was a pretty strong warrior indeed. That put her more at ease. She tried not to, but she could already feel herself drift off to sleep again.

Silara could tell that the girl was ready to pass out again. " _She really does need to rest,_ " she thought as she studied her a bit. "Don't worry, I'll help you, if you'll let me," she said reassuringly.

Ahsoka could sense through the Force that this woman meant it and would really try to help her. The Force told her that she could trust her. She struggled to stay awake as she answered. "I'm… A-Ahsoka… Ahsoka T-Tano…" With that, her mind went blank and she fell into a deep sleep again.

Silara's eyes went wide with shock when she heard her name. "H-hey," she stuttered out. "D-did you say your last name was Tano? Did you really?" she asked as she shook the girl's shoulder a bit. "Hey!" It was no use, she was out cold.

Still in slight shock, Silara made sure the girl was tucked in properly under the thick blanket before she left the room. She made her way downstairs and through the living room where her sister and her family was. Her sister asked her a question, but her mind didn't register it.

She made her way to the garage where she had stored some of her old belongings of her previous life. She quickly looked through them and found her old photo album. Flipping through the pages, she found the photo she was looking for.

It was an old photo of her, her dear old friend and her newborn baby girl, Ahsoka.

She nearly dropped the book in shock. She carefully placed it aside and picked up the communicator that was also among her things. She activated it and dialed one of her old friends.

"This is Shaden," a voice replied over the connection.

With her voice shaking, she replied: "Shaden, It's Silara. I think we have an heir."

 **;-**

 **That's the end of this chapter.**

 **Several names and characters will be the same as in my other stories. Their roles will be somewhat the same, but this story is quite different from my other ones.**

 **Ahsoka is on Shili, but her condition is draining her strength immensely. Fortunately, she seems to have run into someone that will be able to help her. The Force still seems to be with her. In the next chapter, she will learn quite some mixed things about herself and her family.**

 **I'm going to work on a new chapter for Barriss first. After that I'll pick up Ahsoka's story again, then return to this story.**

 **Until next time.**


	3. Chapter 3 - Family History

**Chapter 3 – Family History and a Difficult Decision**

 **The next chapter is here. Ahsoka will learn quite a bit about herself and her family in this chapter. She's also presented with quite the heavy decision that she'll have to make.**

 **Hope you enjoy.**

 **;-**

Ahsoka stirred slowly as she felt herself return to consciousness. She opened her eyes. It felt a bit difficult, her body felt tired still. She looked around the room and spotted a Togrutan woman in the room with her. It wasn't the woman called Silara that she had met before, but she did look a lot like her.

The woman then noticed her move quietly. "Ah, you're awake young one," she said with a relieved look. "Hang on, I'll get Silara." She then quickly left the room.

Ahsoka looked around the room a bit. She didn't really have a chance to see it last time, she had been way too tired. It looked like a pretty standard bedroom, not more than that, but it looked nice. A short moment later the door opened and Silara walked in.

"Ah good, you are awake," Silara said as she walked up to her and sat down next to the bed. "How are you feeling?"

Ahsoka was a little confused by the question. "Alright, I guess?" she replied, not fully understanding the question.

Silara nodded and gently felt Ahsoka's forehead. "That's good, you're not feeling as warm anymore," she said as she smiled.

"I-I don't understand," Ahsoka replied softly as she tried to sit upright.

Silara pushed her down again. "Just lie down for now, take it easy," she said kindly. "You've been really sick. You had a high fever and were slipping in and out of consciousness for the past four days. Thankfully your fever has finally passed, but just take it easy for a bit."

Ahsoka looked at her in slight shock. " _I've been out for four days?"_ she asked herself. " _I sure don't feel like it._ " She shook her head and focused on Silara again. "You've been taking care of me?" she asked.

Silara nodded and gave her a kind smile. "Of course, I wasn't just going to throw you out and let you suffer like that," she replied.

"Thank you," Ahsoka said softly. It was difficult for her to comprehend that she had been mostly unconscious for four whole days. It sure didn't feel like it. She didn't really know what to make of it.

"While you were sleeping, I managed to find some news articles from the Republic. I learned what happened to you and why you were so worried before," Silara told her. Truth be told, she wasn't sure how they could be real. The news reports had spoken about how she had been executed for a horrible series of crimes. How it was discovered two days later that she had been innocent all along and how her body had mysteriously disappeared from the morgue. According to everything she had learned, Ahsoka Tano should be dead, but she was here in front of her, alive. She did not understand how, but she knew that this girl in front of her had the Force and that was something that she couldn't fathom herself.

Silara sighed and looked at Ahsoka. "This might be difficult for you to hear, but I think you deserve to know," she began. "Two days after that happened to you, several people in the Republic discovered new evidence that proved you were innocent from the start. They suspect that it was hidden away during your trial. I'm so sorry that this had to happen to you."

Ahsoka looked away as she felt tears stain her eyes. Even though she had already decided to leave the Republic behind, this news still hurt. Someone had deliberately worked to see her executed. The fact that no one, not in the Republic or in the Jedi Council, had been able to see that depressed her quite a bit.

For a few minutes she was quiet, her mind desperately trying to comprehend everything and figure out some meaning from it. The Force did guide her here after what happened. Was this all part of some sort of plan? She had no idea.

She then recalled something that Silara had said she would look into. "Were you able to find out anything about my family?" she asked hopefully. As she asked this, she could see a pang of pain on Silara's face.

"I'm sorry Ahsoka, but they died almost five years ago," Silara replied softly.

Ahsoka looked at her with wide shocked eyes, not believing her montrals for a moment, but she could tell that Silara was telling the truth, no matter how much she wished it was a lie. Suddenly, an old memory came back to her, it now made sense.

;-

 _Jedi Temple, almost five years ago_

 _Jedi initiate Kale Skye was feeling like he had the worst luck in the Order. Everyone in Clawmouse clan had been very excited to do more lightsaber practice, himself included. But then he had been paired with Ahsoka as a sparring partner._

 _He gulped as he struggled to block her attacks. She was without a doubt one of the top duelists of their clan and he still had no idea how to counter the reverse grip that she had been using. She had every advantage and the smirk on her face showed that she knew it. She landed another strong attack and broke through his guard. He closed his eyes and prepared for his lightsaber to be knocked from his hands._

 _The strike never came. Confused, he opened his eyes. Ahsoka was kneeling on the floor, a pained look on her face, her lightsaber deactivated and rolling away on the ground. "Ahsoka? Hey Ahsoka, are you alright?" he asked quickly. She didn't reply to him. "Master Gallia! Something's wrong!" he quickly called to the Tholotian Jedi Master that was overseeing their practice session._

 _Adi Gallia looked over and noticed Ahsoka kneeling on the ground. She immediately made her way over to her. "Initiate Ahsoka, what's wrong?"_ _she asked her. When Ahsoka didn't reply ,she turned to Kale. "Initiate Kale, what happened?"_

" _I don't know Master," he replied. "She had the upper hand and then she was just sitting there." Their other clanmates looked over as well. They all knew how strong Ahsoka was. To see her kneeling on the ground like that was very surprising._

" _Initiate Ahsoka, are you alright?" Adi Gallia asked again._

" _I don't know," Ahsoka replied softly. "I suddenly feel so cold and empty." She shuddered. "I don't like this. I really don't like this. It feels horrible."_

" _Come on Initiate, I'm taking you to the healers," Adi Gallia said as she gently helped the young Togruta stand up._

;-

" _Was it their death that I felt that day?"_ she thought.

"If it's any consolation, it happened quickly. They didn't suffer," Silara continued. "Your parents and your sister were on their way back here to the city when their transport suddenly exploded. Something went wrong with the ship. I was watching it approach and then there was suddenly a large blazing fireball in its place." She took a deep breath. "It was a horrible day."

Ahsoka was crying now. "So I'm all alone now? I have nothing left and nowhere to go…" she said softly to no one in particular.

"Please don't think like that," Silara replied as she gently took hold of her hand. "There are always other people out there to meet. No one is ever alone, so please don't think like that milady."

Despite her sadness, confusion also crept into her at Silara's words. "W-what did you just call me?" she asked a bit startled.

Silara gave her a confused look, then a look of understanding appeared. "You do not know, am I right?" she asked in return. Ahsoka's confused look was answer enough. "Your parents were the king and queen of Shili. As their daughter, you are a princess of Shili."

Ahsoka looked at her in stunned shock. She again had difficulty believing what she had heard. "I… I'm a what?" she asked softly.

"You are a princess of Shili," Silara told her again. "You are the rightful heir to the throne of Shili and I want to ask you to take up the throne."

"Y-you want me to do what?" Ahsoka asked in shock. "N-n-no, t-there's no way I can. I… I was just executed by the Republic. I have no idea what's happening to me. I… I just can't…"

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to pressure you," Silara quickly replied. "And don't worry, my friends, my fellow warriors and I will protect you. We all swore to protect the royal family and we will do so again now by protecting you. You will be safe with us, I promise you."

"I… I don't know," Ahsoka said softly. "I need some time to think, please."

"I understand, don't worry. You have been through so much. Someone so young doesn't deserve any of it," Silara replied kindly. She stood up and got ready to leave the room. "I'll leave you to get some rest, but please, give it some thought. Shili isn't doing too well right now. You are the only one that can help us change things, so please." With that, she left Ahsoka to her thoughts.

After Silara left, Ahsoka just stared at the ceiling. "I'm a princess of Shili?" she asked herself softly. The idea seemed impossible to her. " _I wonder, did the Council know? Did they even care? Probably not…"_

She looked over at the door. " _She wants me to become queen? How can I ever do such a thing? Especially after everything that happened._ " She sighed and shut her eyes, trying to stop the tears as the memories flashed through her mind again.

Her mind felt like it was close to overloading. She took a deep breath and tried to clear her head. She did her best to calm down and relax. The last thing she needed now was a headache.

;-

Silara came back into the room about an hour later, carrying a bowl of some kind of stew. "Here, I thought you might be hungry," she said as she gave Ahsoka the stew.

"Thank you," Ahsoka replied softly as she took it. She hadn't really dwelled on it yet, but now, holding the bowl and smelling the food, she couldn't deny that she was quite hungry.

SIlara smiled a bit at the look on her face. She was right in her suspicion about her being hungry. She was about to leave again when Ahsoka stopped her.

"Could you…uhm…" she said softly and looked down.

Silara sat down next to the bed. "Yes?" she asked with a smile.

Ahsoka looked at her. "Do you think that you could tell me some things about my family?" she asked. "I… I can't really remember anything about them…"

"Of course I can," Silara replied with a wide smile. "I can tell you quite a bit, after all, your mother and I grew up in the same tribe together."

Ahsoka looked at her in surprise. "You did?" she asked with some shock.

Silara nodded. "Yes, we sure did," she replied with a bit of a nostalgic sigh. "Your mother Ashaiya and I instantly became good friends the first time we met as little girls. We did pretty much everything together those days."

"One day, a princess of the royal family came to visit our tribe," she smiled as she told the story. "The day was going well, until a group of pirates attacked us. They had heard about her visit and thought that they could easily kidnap her when she was with our tribe." Silara gave a wicked smirk. "They were so wrong."

She paused and laughed a bit. "Being a member of the royal family, she of course had a detachment of H'Raani M'Kai warriors, the royal guards, with her," she continued. "Those pirates were laughing because they outnumbered them 4 to 1. Their laughter stopped quickly when the warriors completely overwhelmed them and in a few minutes they were all beaten."

"Your mother and I watched in awe at the way the warriors fought. From that day, we knew that we both wanted to become warriors like them," Silara said smiling. "Once we were old enough, we travelled to Corvala to apply for it. We went through the practice sessions and tests together. It was challenging, but we were both accepted as new recruits." Silara then thought of something. "Hold on, let me get something," she said as she stood up and left the room.

A short moment later she came back into the room, carrying a rectangular box. "After becoming trainees in the H'Raani M'Kai, we were all taught how to make our personal weapons. We all trained with numerous different types of weapons of course, but they told us that having a personal connection to your weapons really helped as well. These were your mothers," she said as she placed the box on the bed next to Ahsoka.

Ahsoka placed the bowl of food aside and looked at the box, curiosity taking over. She opened it and studied its contents. Inside were two katana-style blades, a slender yet very sharp type of blade that wasn't used commonly in the galaxy, but she knew from her studies in the Temple that her people were one of the few who did use them. She saw that one blade was shorter than the other. It reminded her of her own lightsaber and shoto. She took the smaller blade out and withdrew it from its sheathe. The blade was beautiful and obviously well-crafted. "They're amazing," she said with wide eyes.

"Your mother was very proud of them and she was incredibly skilled with them," Silara replied smiling. "Many started with one weapon, but the double blades just seemed to fit with her. It was always really impressive to see her fight with them."

Ahsoka looked at the weapons for a bit more and thought over everything that Silara had just told her. Then another question formed in her mind. "How did she meet my father?" she asked. "He would have to have been part of the royal family, right?"

Silara nodded. "Yes, that's right, he was," she replied. "It was a really big surprise for all of us when we were told that crown prince Thraken Vashee would be joining us in our training sessions. He sought to be a strong warrior himself, so that he could also fight for his people if it was required of him."

"It was a bit awkward for us, to be honest," Silara continued. "To suddenly be training alongside and sparring with one of the people we were training to protect. Whenever one of us was paired with him for sparring, we always respectfully let him win. That, unfortunately, did have the consequence of him becoming a little arrogant about his abilities and that, mixed with his upbringing, started to make him act a bit superior." Silara suddenly laughed. "Then came that faithful day he was paired against your mother."

Silara looked at Ahsoka with a smile. "Your mother didn't look as physically impressive as a few of the others, but that didn't mean anything to her. Her skills with her dual blades spoke volumes. She was fast and incredibly agile and she knew how to use that to her advantage," Silara continued. "Your father was acting a bit arrogant again, said that he would make sure not to hurt her. Ashaiya wasn't impressed, she merely drew her blades and signaled for him to bring it on. At the signal of the instructors, we all started our spars."

"I was facing my own opponent, when we suddenly heard a rather loud startled cry of shock and surprise. We all turned around and I saw the crown prince, lying on the floor, his weapon a few feet away from him and your mother standing over him with that triumphant smirk of hers," Silara said a she laughed a bit with the memories.

Ahsoka couldn't help but laugh a bit as well. It was pretty clear to her just who she got that behavior from herself.

"I watched on in shock as she casually sheathed her weapons, then offered to help him up, that smirk still on her face," Silara went on with her story. "I expected her to get in big trouble for doing that to him, but he smirked as well and admitted that she wasn't too bad after all. They exchanged a few more comments back and forth and were all but set for another match when the training session ended. Prince Thraken vowed he would beat her next time, to which she replied that she would be ready for him every time."

"That day sparked a strong rivalry between them. They sparred a lot of times, several times she won, then he won, at other days they just fought until they both were too exhausted to continue," Silara continued. "That rivalry turned into a strong sense of comradery, which turned into a great friendship, which then suddenly turned into more."

Silara laughed for a moment. "It was a day as any other, I had done my rounds in the palace, stood as a guard during a meeting with a family from another world, did some sparring with a few of the others. My watch had ended, so I was making my way back to the barracks to change and get some rest. I walked into our room and was utterly shocked by what I saw. Your mother, my dear old friend Ashaiya, making out with crown prince Thraken. I just stood there, mouth gaping like an idiot."

She shook her head with amusement. "Later on they officially announced their relationship, then their engagement and suddenly I was the bridesmaid of honor as my oldest friend was marrying the crown prince," She smiled with the memory. "It was a wonderful day with a great celebration."

"Not surprisingly, nine months later your sister Naya was born," Silara continued. "I was honored to be one of the first to be introduced to her and to be allowed to hold her. About eleven months after she was born, your grandparents stepped down and your parents became the new king and queen of Shili. Times on Shili were good for everyone under their rule."

Silara looked back at Ahsoka. "It was about six years later when Ashaiya told me she was pregnant with a second child," she said with a smile. "And then eight months later there you were. Even though she were so little, I could see just how much you looked like your mother. I was very happy to babysit you from time to time."

"Now that you mention it, there is something slightly familiar about your voice," Ahsoka replied. "What happened when you found out I had the Force? How did mom feel about that?" she then asked. It was something that she had always been curious about.

"When we learned that you were Force-sensitive and that Kel Dorian Jedi came to Shili, she was both sad and proud," Silara explained. "Sad, because she knew that you would no longer be with her and your family. It would likely be the last time she saw you in person. Proud, because you were blessed with a power that neither of us could begin to understand. She knew, that with the Jedi, you would be able to learn about this gift and become a strong and wise Jedi, capable of protecting people everywhere in the galaxy. She was so proud, knowing that you had such a destiny in front of you."

Ahsoka smiled. "Thank you for telling me all of this," she replied. "And for taking me in and looking after me. It really means a lot to me."

Silara smiled at her. "Don't mention it, it's my pleasure," she said. "I'm just really happy to see you again. You're practically family. You can stay here for as long as you want. I'm sure my sister will agree."

"What do you mean by that?" Ahsoka asked, not fully understanding that last comment.

Silara sighed a bit. "This is my sister Krystah's house," she replied as she gestured around the room. "Several months ago, I spoke out against our current 'ruler'. That apparently wasn't appreciated and then I suddenly had less than a day to pack my things before my house was seized because of 'unpaid taxes'." She shook her head. "Thankfully my sister and her family came to help me pack and let me stay with them. Ever since then I've made sure to watch what I say, for their sake. But don't let that worry you, you should just rest and focus on getting better. We'll have dinner in about three hours if you want to join us." With that, she got up and left the room.

Ahsoka remained sitting on the bed. She then carefully took both of the katana blades that had been her mother's and studied the weapons more. They were beautiful weapons and very well crafted. Her mother had crafted them, just like she had made her own lightsabers. If she concentrated on the weapons a little, she could feel a very familiar presence about them, a presence that brought back some very old memories of her mother. She smiled and a few tears rolled down her cheeks as well.

After a few minutes she placed the weapons back in their sheaths and back into the box. She then laid back down to think about everything she had learnt this day. Her family was no longer alive. That was a bitter pill to take, especially after everything that happened already. She was a princess of Shili. She didn't know how to take that news, let alone the fact that they wanted her to become queen.

With the way Silara had just spoked about the current ruler of Shili, as well as the feelings she had sensed before from both her and the man aboard the freighter, it wasn't difficult to get the idea that he wasn't the best ruler.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She could already feel a headache coming up, she couldn't think about this anymore now. For now, she decided to take Silara's advice and get some more rest.

;-

After a quiet dinner with Silara, she and Ahsoka had eaten together apart from the rest of her family, just to make sure it was a bit easier on Ahsoka and so her sister's children wouldn't bury her with questions, Ahsoka was now sitting in the living room with Silara and her sister Krystah.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ahsoka," Krystah said with a smile. "You really look a lot like your mother."

Silara smiled. "Yes, she's right. You really do," she added. "But I have to ask, have you given any thought about what I asked you?"

"You mean becoming queen?" Ahsoka asked in return. Silara nodded. "I… I'm sorry. But I have no idea if I could do such a thing. I…" She looked down, unsure of what else to say.

"Please, I hope you can do it," Krystah replied. "We really need your help. Shili is in a really bad state and you're the only one who can help us."

Ahsoka looked at her. "I… I don't understand. What do you mean?" she asked. She looked at Silara. "Just what is going on here on Shili?"

Silara took a deep breath. "Do you remember what I told you about Shili's current ruler and why I'm living with my sisters' family now?" she asked in return. Ahsoka nodded. "When your family died in that accident, one of your father's old friend and advisors took over the throne. Back then, he said it was to make sure everything on Shili kept running. We spend some time looking for another heir, but we weren't able to find anyone."

"As time continued and we weren't able to find an heir, we began talking about holding an election of sorts. We wanted to choose a new king or queen that the public would be willing to stand behind, so that everything on Shili could return to normal, but it was too late," Silara said sadly. "While all of us were busy trying to keep Shili in order, he had been busy hoarding power. Before we realized, he had taken full control of the throne and declared himself king."

Krystah looked at her sister with sad eyes and continued for her. "People spoke out against him, like Silara and the other royal guards, but there wasn't anything we could do. Our laws prevented us from challenging his claim to the throne. When Silara and the others said that they would only serve the royal family, the H'Raani M'Kai was disbanded. After that, things on Shili quickly got worse."

"It sure did," Silara continued. "Because he was in full control of Shili, he could do whatever he pleased. He came up with all kinds of ridiculous rules and insane taxes. He stole so much from the people. Many on Shili are now struggling to get by every day, some have even lost their homes, all while he's sitting comfortably in the palace, abusing the palace servants and indulging in his sick desires like one of those revolting Hutts."

"Ever since then, life on Shili has become very uncertain," Krystah said. "I'm not sure if I still want to see my children grow up here with Shili in this state. I've given some serious thought about moving away, to Kiros perhaps, but we cannot afford it, especially because of all of his taxes."

"There's nothing that we can do, because of our laws, we're just stuck," Krystah said as she looked at Ahsoka. "But you, you have a rightful claim to the throne. You can challenge him and by our laws, he will have to relinquish the throne to you. And then you can bring Shili back to the way it was when your parents ruled."

Ahsoka looked down again. "I… I'm sorry. I just don't know…," she replied softly.

"It's okay Ahsoka, don't worry," Silara said comfortingly. "Please don't feel like we're pressuring you, but please try to understand how we feel about this. You are a symbol of hope for us." She smiled at Ahsoka. "Come on, let's get you back upstairs. You should continue to rest and recover your strength. You've been really ill."

"Yeah, okay," Ahsoka replied. "Thank you, that sounds good."

Silara nodded and helped Ahsoka get back upstairs.

;-

Ahsoka sat cross-legged on the bed in the room that Silara and her sister were letting her stay in. As much as she didn't like the idea right now, she tried to calm herself and meditate on the Force. Her mind was still a mess. Meditating on the Force might help her with that a bit. She was rather apprehensive about tapping into it, with her mind still in this state, but the Force had been helping her so far, so she hoped it would still guide her now.

It took her a moment, but she eventually managed to calm herself enough to focus on the Force. She opened her mind a bit more and let the Force flow through her. Slowly the peace she sought came to her. As she relaxed more, she opened herself further to the Force.

To her great relief, the Force was still guiding her. It helped her relax and she finally started feeling a little bit like herself again, before this whole mess started. She embraced the Force a bit more, letting it ease her mind more and more.

Wondering about the state of Shili after what Silara and Krystah had told her, she decided to reach out across the city with the Force. It wasn't difficult for her to find out that a lot more people felt like Silara and her sister did. If she had to guess, just about everyone in the city was very unhappy about the state of things. There were a lot of feelings of sadness, anger, despair and frustration echoing throughout the city.

After a few minutes Ahsoka withdrew herself from the Force again, the feelings started to become a little too overwhelming. It was pretty clear to her that the people of Shili needed help. She was the only one able to give it. The Force also seemed to want her to do so, but could she really do it?

Becoming queen of her home planet of Shili, that wasn't something she had ever expected to do. Helping people as a Jedi, sorting out their problems or protecting them from bad guys, that she had definitely seen herself doing when she was still a youngling. Taking up a throne and leading an entire world? No, that most definitely wasn't anything she had ever thought off.

She shook her head and got up from the bed. She walked over to the window and looked out of it. The neighborhood looked pretty nice, but she could see pieces of damaged property here and there, like damaged fences or spots on the houses that needed to be repainted. " _If things are as bad as Silara and her sister said, then people probably don't have the money to fix things,_ " she thought.

She kept looking around the neighborhood. Then she froze as she saw something that nearly broke her heart in two.

In an alleyway behind the house there were two little children, a young boy and an even younger girl. The two of them were searching through the trash. From what she could sense, they were looking for something to eat. The girl found something that apparently seemed edible, because she turned to the older boy and they ran off to the other end of the alley. There they gave it to a different person sitting there, a woman, most likely their mother.

Even from where she was, she could tell that the woman was ill and weak. Those children were obviously hungry themselves, but they gave the food to their mother without hesitation.

Ahsoka turned away from the window, the scene quickly becoming too painful to watch. She moved back to the bed and sat down. She took a few deep breaths to steady her swirling emotions. The Force was moving around her as well, pushing the decision towards her again.

For now, she decided to just sleep on it. She felt exhausted and sleep was very appealing to her now. She got ready for bed and laid down. She stared up at the ceiling, all kinds of thoughts running through her mind as she tried to sleep.

;-

 _The following day_

After a long night, Ahsoka made her way downstairs. All kinds of thoughts had haunted her the entire night, but she had finally been able to reach a decision about what to do, with some guidance from the Force.

As she entered the living room, she saw that Silara and her sister Krystah were there, along with a Togrutan male that she hadn't met before. He had light green skin with a similarly colored lekku. Silara had said that she was a member of the royal guards before. Judging from this man's burly appearance, Ahsoka figured that he had been part of them as well.

They turned to her as she walked into the room. Upon seeing her, a look of shock appeared on the male's face. A number of emotions radiated from him as he studied her.

"Ah Ahsoka, good timing," Silara said as she smiled at her. "Let me introduce you, this is Shaden Zadane." She gestured at the male. "He was the leader of the H'Raani M'Kai before we were disbanded by our so-called 'ruler'." She looked at Shaden. "Shaden, this is Ahsoka Tano, their daughter."

Shaden nodded, a smile on his face. "Indeed, she looks so much like her," he said as he stood up, a tone of nostalgia in his voice. "It is a pleasure to meet you, milady. I am truly sorry about your family. Things on Shili were never the same since. I may no longer be the leader of the royal guards, but do let me know if I can do anything for you."

"It's good to meet you as well, thank you," Ahsoka replied. She hesitated a bit, how could she best say this? "Silara, I thought about what you asked me to do."

"You have?" Silara asked with some eagerness. "Whatever it is you've decided, we'll accept your decision. Don't worry."

Ahsoka shuffled around a bit nervously. "I… I may not be in the best condition right now, nor do I have any idea how to be a ruler of a planet, but I'll do it," she said slowly. "I can sense the suffering on Shili. I just can't let that continue any longer. I'll try to do what I can."

The faces of the others in the room lit up. "Thank you Ahsoka," Silara replied, voice shaking a bit with happiness. "I promise you, we will stand by your side, protect you and help you with whatever we can."

Ahsoka gave her a nervous smile. "I guess… uhm…" she said as she looked at Silara and Shaden. "I suppose you can consider yourselves and the others restored to your previous position of royal guards, with all rights you had before."

Shaden and Silara both smiled and gave her a salute. "Milady, thank you," Shaden replied. "We are at your side, to serve as your sword and shield. We will do everything in our power to keep you safe." He turned to Silara. "Silara, please take care of her and help her get ready. I will contact the others and get everyone prepared. Tomorrow, we will march to the palace. It's high time we restore the throne to its rightful ruler."

 **;-**

 **That's the end of this chapter.**

 **Ahsoka unfortunately learned some awful things about her family. They are no longer with her. As she learned about her family's history, she was presented with quite the decision. With some guidance from the Force, she has now decided to become queen of Shili. In the next chapter, they will all travel to the palace to confront the tyrant that has taken over the throne.**

 **The weapons that Ahsoka's mother used are based on the Onikiri and Ubadachi dual katanas from Dark Souls 3, I love those weapons. They also fit really nicely with Ahsoka's lightsaber and shoto. They are now in Ahsoka's possession and she'll hold on to them now.**

 **I'm going to work on another chapter for Tale of a Togruta next. It will be the final preparations for Marina's wedding, before that takes places in the chapter after that. Will Ahsoka enjoy everything her sisters have planned for her? Probably not. Will they care about how she feels about it? Not likely. Will she have some payback on her sisters? Absolutely.**

 **Until next time.**


	4. Chapter 4 - Hope for Shili

**Chapter 4 – Hope for Shili**

 **I'm back with another chapter for this story. Now, I've decided to split my original idea into two chapters. I felt it would work better that way. In this chapter, Ahsoka and the others will march on the palace and send out a clear signal across the city to let everyone know what's going on.**

 **Hop you enjoy.**

 **;-**

Inside her home, Cira Tao-Ni smiled widely as she once again picked up her beloved snake sword. It had been too long since she had last held it in her hands. The message that Shaden had send her yesterday had been hard to believe at first, but it was the truth. There is an heir.

There was hope for Shili again. Without that vile usurper, they would finally be able to rebuild Shili and undo all of the horrors that he had created. It would be up to them to keep her safe and she was more than ready to do so. Now in her old armor, with her trusted weapon at her side, she was well prepared to do her part.

The front door of her house opening and voices calling out made her pause. "Aunt Cira, we're here!" a young voice called out excitedly.

" _That's right, my brother and his kids came to visit today_ ," she thought as she looked over at the door.

A young boy and girl walked into the room and gasped in amazement at the sight of her dressed in her full set of armor. Her brother, Avier, followed them in. He stared at her armor as well, but with concern instead.

"Cira, what are you doing?" he asked her. "Are you trying to aggravate him again? Don't you remember what happened to your friend Silara?"

Cira looked at her brother. As usual, he was concerned for her, just like he always did. "Don't worry Avier," she replied with a comforting smile. "Things have changed."

He gave her an odd look. "How has anything changed?" he asked her. "Doesn't he still hold the throne? You can't challenge him like that!"

"Believe me my brother, he won't be for much longer," she replied confidently. When she saw his confused and concerned expression, she revealed what she had learned. "Silara and Shaden found an heir."

The look of shock on her brother's face would have been amusing if this wasn't such a sensitive and serious subject. "Are-are you sure? You-you're serious, aren't you?" he asked in obvious shock.

"Yes, I am," Cira replied as she nodded. "Their youngest daughter still lives. She's on Shili now, with Silara. She has decided to take the throne. We will all stand by her and march on the palace together. These days of tyranny are at an end."

"I… I can barely believe it," Avier said as he looked at her.

Cira smiled and walked up to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Believe it brother," she told him. "Times on Shili are changing, for the better this time." She turned to her niece and nephew and kneeled. "I know we planned to have some fun times together today, but something really important has come up and I need to go help my friends. Don't worry, I promise we'll do this another time, okay?"

The two kids groaned a bit in disappointment. They couldn't yet fully understand what the discovery of an heir meant for Shili. "Okay," her niece replied. "But you'll have to make it up to us!" she proclaimed.

Cira chucked a bit. "Don't worry, I will," she replied and stood up again. She turned back to her brother. "Well then, I'm off, for the sake of Shili."

"Please, watch your back sister," Avier replied. "That _man_ cannot be trusted."

Cira nodded. "Don't worry, I will have all of my brother and sister warriors at my side," she said with a smile. "We will succeed." She gave his kids another smile and then walked outside.

The morning sun greeted her with a bright, warm light, as if it knew what was about to happen, how Shili would change. Her armor gleamed in the sunlight, memories of old times coming back to her. Those who walked by in the street saw her standing there. Some looked fondly at the sight of the armor of the royal guards, others were unsure what to make of it. She didn't let it bother her, soon enough, everyone would know.

She smiled and set off for Silara's house. They would gather there, meet the heir and then escort her to the palace. They would have a new queen by the end of the day. It filled her with a feeling of hope that she hadn't known in years.

She walked around the corner and was hit by quite the nostalgic sight as well. Her old friends Aurora and Gaven walked up to meet her, both in their armor and weapons at their sides as well. They all smiled as they exchanged their old greeting.

"It is good to see you both like this again," Cira said.

"Likewise Cira," Aurora replied. "It's been far too long."

Gaven nodded. "This news was unexpected to say the least, but I cannot be happier about it," he said. "We can finally change the way things are going on Shili. I was beginning to lose hope."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Cira replied. "Everything has been falling apart more and more, but now we can finally do something about it."

Aurora nodded excitedly as well. "Indeed, let us make haste towards Silara's house," she said. "The sooner we can make our way to the palace, the better."

"I couldn't agree more, let's go," Cira replied and the three of them set off.

;-

Ahsoka stared out of the window, nervousness and anxiety settling in. Outside the house of Silara's sister Krystah, the warriors of the royal guard had gathered. Many other people were also around, looking at the warriors and wondering just what was going on. They had no idea what to make of this gathering of the supposed to be disbanded royal guards.

She took a deep breath and turned back around. Silara had told her that by the end of this day, she'd be the queen of Shili. She still had no idea how to feel about that. " _Will the people even accept me?"_ she thought worriedly. " _Silara and Shaden said that they would stand by me, but will others do the same? Will they even trust me?"_ After everything that just happened to her on Coruscant, she couldn't help but be fearful off how the people would react to her, especially since she's about to make a claim to the throne.

She walked up to the mirror in the room. Her skin had thankfully almost fully regained her original orange color. She could make out her facial markings clearly again. Krystah had washed her clothes, so they looked a lot better too. Also, Silara had presented her with two things that she had taken from the palace after her parents died. The first was a Togruta sash, one that her mother had worn before her, with her family's crest stitched into it. As she stared into the mirror, she let her hand run over the pattern. It felt so familiar to her. Looking at it brought all sorts of sensations and faded memories back to her mind.

She then moved her hand up to her chest. Silara had also given her a jeweled amulet to wear. Apparently it was also a symbol of the royal family and only those who were a part of the royal family were allowed to wear it. Both Silara and Krystah had told her that she looked a lot like her mother now, especially wearing those items. She moved to the bed and took her mother's dual katanas and strapped the weapons to her belt. She couldn't help but smile a bit now, having those weapons at her side made her feel quite a bit better.

She took a deep breath. " _Please mom, lend me your strength. Help me save our people,_ " she thought as she tried to calm herself. She hoped that the Force would remain on her side as well. She truly needed its comfort and guidance right now.

She went downstairs to join Silara in the living room. Silara stood there with a very content smile. She was dressed in her old set of armor and was obviously very pleased to be wearing it again. "Ah, Ahsoka, there you are," she said happily. "Are you ready?"

"I… I don't know," she replied softly. "Am I really making the right decision here? I mean… Will the people of Shili even accept me as Queen?"

Silara walked up to her and kneeled down. "Ahsoka, like I told you, your parents were a great king and queen. Times on Shili were great under their rule," she told her. "Now, that tyrant rules with an iron fist and abuses whomever he pleases. Believe me, people will be happy to be rid of him."

Silara smiled at her. "You have those same kind eyes as your mother. People will look to you and see a return to how things were before he took over," she said. "You will give them hope and they will follow you, I just know it."

Ahsoka managed a light smile. "Thank you Silara," she replied. "I'm just really nervous and worried. After all that happened, I'm just not that confident anymore. I don't really feel like myself anymore. So much happened and I just…"

"Don't worry Ahsoka, we are all with you," Silara told her reassuringly. "And once they learn who you are, all of the people of Shili will be behind you as well." She stood up again. "Now then, let's get ready for Shaden's signal."

Ahsoka nodded. "Yes, let's do so," she replied and they moved to the front door.

;-

Regin Sacul, head of Corvala's law enforcement, sighed as he observed the scene in front of him. It seemed that, despite his warnings, his old friend Shaden Zadane had once again donned his old H'Raani M'Kai armor and so had quite a few of his old colleagues.

" _Why do you have to be so stubborn, my old friend?_ " he asked himself. As much as he didn't like it himself, their ruler had disbanded the royal guard and made it illegal for them to equip their gear again or group together in such a way. He could no longer let it slide or give them a warning. As much as he resented it, he would be forced to arrest them now. He would be in great trouble himself if he didn't do so.

He walked up to meet his old friend. "Shaden, why are you doing this?" he asked neutrally, hoping to keep the situation under control. Quite a few of the old royal guard was gathered here, not to mention the crowd of civilians that had gathered to see what was going on. "You know you can't do this. He'll see you in jail for the rest of your life."

Shaden walked up a bit. He looked at him and the crowd of civilians before slamming the hilt of his greataxe into the ground. "He will not be our ruler for much longer," he spoke in a loud, defiant voice, shocking the gathered crowd.

Regin looked on in shock as well. "My friend, what are you saying? You know you can't defy him," he replied concerned. "You can't just ignore our laws, you'll be executed. Don't do this."

"I know this, my old friend. We cannot challenge his rule, but _she_ can," Shaden said determined. "Our group has been reinstated and we will see her take the throne. We will protect her and stand by her."

"W-what are you talking about?" Regin asked confused. "What are you saying?" His confusion was shared by the civilians present. They had no idea what to make of it.

Shaden smiled. "It's time for the throne to be restored to its rightful owner," he replied as he turned to the crowd. "Good people of Shili, I give you the rightful heir to the throne of Shili, Ahsoka Tano, youngest daughter of King Thraken Vashee and Queen Ashaiya."

The entire crowd turned to look at the house in shock and hope as Silara led Ahsoka outside. She was still a little bit pale, but her facial markings were more than clear enough to make out. With her now wearing a Togruta sash with her family's crest as well as the amulet of the royal family, she looked exactly like her mother did when she was her age. Many in the crowd gasped as they saw her striking resemblance to late Queen Ashaiya. They turned to those standing around them, eagerly hoping to confirm that they weren't just seeing things. Excitement broke out amongst them as they realized that what they were seeing was true.

Ahsoka paused next to Silara as she saw the large crowd. Considering all that had happened, she was very nervous. However, she could clearly sense the burst of excitement in everyone gathered around her. She could see the smiles on the faces of the royal guard as they all saluted her and bowed. It made her feel a little awkward, but she managed a small smile herself.

She and Silara then walked up to join Shaden who also bowed. "Milady, this is my old friend Regin Sacul, he is the head of Corvala's law enforcement," he told her as he gestured at his friend who stood there in shock. "A good man who, unfortunately, had to do many things he wasn't proud of because of that tyrant's rule."

Ahsoka looked at him. Through the Force, it was easy to confirm what Shaden said. He felt like an honest man that cares for those he's meant to protect. There was an air of regret present around him. From what Silara and her sister had told her, she figured that he had to all kinds of horrible things to people because of the ridiculous laws that the 'ruler' had created. It was obvious that he carried around a great deal of regret.

She walked up to him and could sense his concern. She gave him a friendly smile. "We are headed towards the palace. Will you join us?" she asked him.

Regin looked at her in shock. He then smiled and bowed to her. "Milady, it would be an honor," he replied.

Ahsoka nodded at him and turned back to Shaden and Silara. She took a deep breath to ready herself, this might be harder than she thought. "Shall we go?" she asked them.

Shaden and Silara both nodded and gave her a salute. "Yes, let's get underway," Shaden replied with an eager tone. "H'Raani M'Kai, my brothers and sisters, form up, honor guard style. We are headed towards the palace."

The gathered warriors all sounded their agreement and saluted before they took their positions. Silara stood by Ahsoka's side, to support her if needed. She knew how uneasy she still was. "Let's go Ahsoka, we're all with you," she told her.

A little off to the side, Regin was addressing the officers with him and giving orders to others via comlink. "Fall in behind the royal guards and follow their lead," he told them. "Set up some roadblocks and clear the road leading towards the palace. It's time for things on Shili to change." His men eagerly responded and started carrying out the orders.

Shaden signaled to move and they all departed. Shaden led the group as they began making their way towards the palace. Ahsoka walked in the middle of the group, doing her best to keep her nerves under control. Behind their group, the civilians followed them. Their excitement growing as they realized that they would finally be rid of the tyrant that had taken over the throne. Many had gotten out their comlinks and were calling friends and family.

Ahsoka was able to relax more as she realized that Silara had been right. The feelings of the people following behind them now confirmed it. It gave her new determination to follow through with this. She would help Shili.

;-

 _A small café in Corvala_

"Oh, come on Verana, can't you take up your old job again?" the pale blue skinned Togruta asked her friend.

Verana sighed. "I already told you Skye, I won't do that," she replied, a frown appearing on her red face.

"You're not going to consider this? I mean, you used to work as a financial advisor for the royal family. There must be something you can do. Shili will go bankrupt at this rate," The green skinned male at the table insisted.

"Falen, I can't," She told her friend. "I refuse to work for that _man_. Besides, you've seen how he treats the Senator. He doesn't give a single damn about what she says. She worked weeks on those renovations plans and when she presented them to him, he just laughed in her face and threw them away. If he won't listen to her, then there is no way he'd listen to someone like me."

Her friends' faces dropped. "Yeah, you may be right, unfortunately," Sky said softly. "But there must be something that can be done."

"I'm not sure, we…" Verana began, but she was interrupted by her comlink going off. "Excuse me a moment," she said to her friends as she answered it. "Verana."

"Verana! You're not going to believe it! It's incredible!" a loud excited voice sounded over the comlink. Some people in the café turned to her in slight annoyance.

"Jianne, quit down a bit," Verana instantly hissed at friend. "What has gotten you so worked up?"

"They just announced it here in the streets, it's amazing!" Jianna's voice sounded loudly again. "Everything will change now!"

"Jianna, what are you talking about? Who did what?" Verana asked, getting a little ticked off at her friend's loud voice. Her next words caught her completely by surprise.

"The royal guards! They found an heir!" came the reply from her friend.

Verana looked in shock at her comlink. Everyone else in the café turned to look again as well, unsure of what they just heard. "T-they've what?" Verana asked in shock.

"There's an heir to the throne!" Jianne replied excitedly again. "The royal guard found a living heir to the throne! They're heading towards the palace right now. We'll have a new queen soon! Their youngest daughter is still alive!"

"W-w-where are they now?!" Verana asked in shock. Everyone in the café was now eagerly following the conversation.

"The local law enforcement is setting up a route straight to the palace. We're close to that café you said you were going to," Jianna replied. "Hurry up and get out here!"

Verana looked outside and could see numerous people moving about excitedly out in the streets. "Y-yeah, we'll be right there!" she said as she turned off the transmission. "Come on guys, let's go!" Her friends nodded eagerly and they ran outside, followed by everyone else in the café.

;-

Following a vast amount of comlink calls across the city, a great many people had gone out onto the streets to confirm for themselves what they had been told. It seemed like an impossible dream to many that had gathered along the road that the law enforcement had sealed off.

All of a sudden a Togrutan warrior clad in green armor and wielding a large battle-axe came around the corner, headed their way. Others all clad in the same armor followed behind him. Many looked on in slight wonder at sight of the old royal guards dressed in full armor again.

Suddenly people starting pointing excitedly at something in the middle of the group of warriors. There, amongst the warriors, walked a young girl whose sash held the crest of the royal family. They gasped in wonder as they saw that she looked exactly like their former queen when she was younger. They cried out in joy and cheered as they saw for themselves that it was true. There truly is an heir.

;-

Silara smiled as she walked a bit closer to Ahsoka. "See Ahsoka? Didn't I tell you?" she asked. "The people will follow you. Everyone is with you."

Ahsoka smiled as well. "You were right, Silara," she replied. "I… I honestly don't know what to say. I will do what I whatever I can to help Shili." The feelings she felt through the Force were overwhelming, just like when she meditated before. Only now, there was nothing but joy and hope instead of the sadness and despair she felt before.

"I know you will," Silara said. "And don't worry, we are all with you. We will help you in whatever way we can. I know that Shili will be saved now."

Ahsoka smiled as Shaden joined them. "This is going well, isn't it?" he asked them. "The people are all gathering around, eager to welcome the coming change. But still, I think we can send a much clearer signal all over the city."

Silara smiled at him. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" she asked him.

He gave an eager nod back. "Indeed," he replied. "Will you tell Ahsoka about it? I will adjust our path and inform the others."

Silara nodded back. "Will do," she said. Shaden made his way back towards the front of the group, giving a few orders and receiving eager conformations.

"What do you have in mind?" Ahsoka asked her. "Is there something I should know about?"

Silara smiled at her again. "Yes, there most certainly is," she replied. "As you can see, the people are learning about what is going on, who you are. But we haven't reached everyone yet. However, we know something that'll send a very clear signal all over the city."

"I see, so what do we do?" Ahsoka asked.

"In the center of the city is a construction called the Spires of Shili," Silara replied. "These three spires have been a symbol of the royal family for ages. Whenever a ruler retires from the throne, the flames are extinguished. Then, when the new ruler is crowned, they will relight the flames, signaling the new rule. The three spires represent the same theme as the festival of Ullumbana: the past, present and the future."

Silara looked to the side, between a few buildings, the tops of the spires she mentioned could clearly be seen. "When you parents died, the flames were extinguished as well. For years now the spires have been dark and cold." She looked back at Ahsoka. "Now, we want you to light them again, to signal to all of Corvala that there is a new ruler. Sound like a plan?"

Ahsoka smiled. "Sounds like quite the idea to me," she replied. Silara nodded and they began making their way towards the spires.

;-

Ahsoka looked on in wonder at the spires. They had just arrived there and it was sight to behold. They easily reached several stories high. The three spires spiraled around each other as they went upwards. On their top, three elegant torches sat waiting to be lighted. All sorts of decorations were on the spires. She recognized a few of them as symbols for the sun, moon, nature and different types of animals. Others were completely unknown to her.

One of the people who still tended to the spires walked up her, trying desperately to keep herself contained despite the excitement she felt. "Milady, welcome, it's an honor to have you here," the copper colored Togruta said. "Do you require a torch to light the spires? It would be my pleasure to get one for you."

Ahsoka was about to reply when she felt the Force swirl around her again. She paused a moment and reflected on what It said. "No thank you, that won't be necessary," she replied kindly.

"Ahsoka? Is something wrong?" Silara asked worried.

Ahsoka turned around to look at her. "No, don't worry, everything's fine," she replied to ease her concerns. "I just feel…" She stopped, not sure exactly what to say as she looked back at the spires.

She then walked up to the base of the three spires. There was a small basin where one would lit the flame. She stopped by it and looked at it. She slowly raised her right hand above it. The Force was flowing around her. She focused her mind and concentrated on It. She let it lead her, guide her towards feelings and sensations she wasn't familiar with, energy starting to move through her. She followed the Force and let the energy flow through her, towards her hand. A small orb of white fire appeared in the palm of her hand. She looked at it in slight amazement. This wasn't something that she had ever been able to do before or had even heard of. The Force was truly on her side.

She looked at the flame in her hand. It glowed brightly with a gentle, warm light. She gently lowered the flame to the basin. The moment it made contact, white fire spread along the lines of the spires. The torches on top erupted in bright white flames, shining brightly and sending a clear signal all around the city. All around the spires the people erupted in cheers.

With a smile, Ahsoka made her way back to Shaden, Silara and the others. "Shall we continue to the palace?" she asked them. Their response was a salute and a cheer. Ahsoka took her place back in their group and they continued onwards. An ever growing crowd of people following behind them.

;-

After a short time of walking the party arrived at the palace, followed by a very large group of eager citizens. Yesterday, Ahsoka had still felt a great deal of sorrow and sadness through the Force. Now, she felt such hope and joy. It confirmed to her what Silara had told her, she did make the right choice.

They reached the gates of the palace. As was usual, they were sealed shut at the command of the false ruler. He did not care for visitors unless it was someone he had invited himself.

The guards at the gates grew incredibly nervous. They had no idea what to make of this, the old royal guards in their full gear leading an insanely large group of people.

Shaden walked up to them, calm and confident. He raised his axe and set the hilt down forcefully on the ground again. "In the name of the royal family of Shili, open these gates!" he called to the guards at the gates.

They all looked at him and the rest of the crowd, not believing what they just heard. Ahsoka knew that that was her que. She walked forward from the group, joining Shaden closer to the gates.

After a moment of hesitation and doubt, the guards recognized her markings and the crest that she bore. Their expressions all changed instantly and they started muttering slight disbeliefs and hopes. Then the head of the gate guards made a decision. "Open the gates!" he called out to his fellow guards. The command was repeated eagerly and they all rushed to open the gates.

With a loud cheer of the people, the gates to the people opened. Shaden turned back to Ahsoka, an eager smile on his face. "This way, milady," he said as he gestured at the opening gates. Ahsoka nodded and they made their way inside, to the throne room.

;-

Goran Reendorr, self-proclaimed king and usurper of the throne of Shili, was casually lounging on the throne, snaking on some expensive dishes he had made his chefs prepare.

Earlier he had listened to the planet's Senator and her pleas to invest in more supplies for the people. He had thrown it all away. Things were fine the way they were. He knew that she was on Coruscant now, pleading to the Republic Senate for emergency support. He had laughed at her actions. Even if she did manage to obtain some goods from that Republic, he would seize it all for himself anyway.

He let a lecherous gaze wander over the scarcely dressed servant girls of the palace, wondering which one be would bed tonight. None would try to get away from him, in their fear of his retribution towards their families. " _Life is great,_ " he thought with dark glee.

A strange commotion made him turn his attention towards the doors of the throne room. Without warning the doors were forced open. To fuel his annoyance even further, he saw the old royal guards enter the room, some form of determination written on his face. All of the palace servants turned to look at them as well.

"Goran Reendorr," their leader, Shaden Zadane called out. "You will rule over Shili no longer. Your days of tyranny will end now."

The false king laughed loudly on the throne. Not at all impressed by his words. "And just by what right do you think that you are able to challenge my rule?" he asked in return, already wondering just how many of them he should send to prison and how many of them he should have executed.

"They are not the ones challenging you, I am," a voice then called out. He looked over and froze in shock when he saw Aishaya walk out from the group of royal guards.

"Aishaya?! No! That's impossible!" he cried out in shock. The others in the throne room were also reduced to staring at her in shock.

"No, that was my mother's name. My name is Ahsoka Tano, youngest daughter of Thraken and Aishaya Vashee and rightful heir to the throne," she replied calmly.

"No, that's not possible!" Goran said in a mixture of shock and anger. "The entire royal family was supposed to be on that ship!"

Ahsoka looked at him. "I was never near that ship. I used to live a different life, but now I'm back on Shili," she replied. "And I've decided to claim my birthright and take up the throne." The response she got was a look of utter rage.

"No, I will not allow this. I worked far too hard for this. Some little brat like you won't ruin it all for me," he said in anger.

The way he said that brought all sorts of nasty feelings to her. "What do you mean? What have you done?" she asked him.

He looked at her with a sadistic smile. "Did you really think that what happened to that ship was an accident?" he asked in dark voice.

"WHAT?!" Shaden and several others shouted in shock and outrage. Others in the room stared on in horror. Ahsoka looked at him in a shocked silence.

Goran snarled at her. "I spent months planning it, always acting nicely to those pathetic idiots. They were unfit to rule! The explosion that destroyed their ship was caused by my bomb! They did not deserve the throne, it's mine! And some brat like you won't take it from me!" he shouted in anger before drawing a blaster and firing directly at Ahsoka.

Acting on pure instinct, Ahsoka drew her blades and rushed forward. She deflected the first shot with her off-hand blade, the second shot with the main blade. Then she leapt into the air with the aid of the Force, evading the third and fourth bolt.

Goran looked startled and fired another bolt at her. She spun in the air and avoided it too, landing in front of him. She quickly brought her main sword up, slicing through his blaster. The Force was on her side as she unleashed a fast Force Push and send him flying away.

He was dazed momentarily, but when he regained his senses, he found Ahsoka standing over him, one of the blades at his throat. He growled at her. "Do it, you brat," he told her. "Take my life and the throne. Do it, avenge your family. You want the throne, you want to have that power. Show that you're no different from me."

Ahsoka looked down at him. Part of her did want to end this man. Not only for the suffering he had brought on Shili, but also for robbing her of her family. Because of this man, she would never know them again. The royal guards and a number of palace staff and civilians had gathered around to see what she would do.

She looked at him past the blade of her weapon. "No," she replied. "I am nothing like you, nor will I ever be." She took the blade away from his throat. "These were my mother's weapons. I won't tarnish them with the blood of someone like you." She put both blades away and turned to Silara and the others. "Lock him up somewhere. I don't want to see his face again," she told them.

"Gladly," Shaden replied as he and a few others walked up to him with their weapons drawn. They made quick work of dragging him up and slapping him in cuffs. Then they walked off, dragging him towards a set of doors in the room.

Ahsoka looked at them before her attention was drawn to a covered up painting at the side of the throne room. She walked up to it and used the Force to remove the curtain covering it. Underneath the curtain was a painting of four people. She stared at it with wide eyes once she identified them as her family, her parents, older sister and herself as a two year old girl on her mother's lap. She stared silently at the painting as Silara joined her.

"That was amazing Ahsoka," Silara told her with a smile. "You truly have your mother's grace. And now, we can bring Shili back to her glory days. I know that you will be a fine queen. Everyone will stand behind you."

Ahsoka took a deep breath and turned to Silara, giving her a tired smile. "Thank you Silara," she replied. "I will do what I can. I just find it hard to take that because of him…" She took another deep breath and looked down.

"I know Ahsoka, I know," Silara said softly. "It's so much worse than what I held true for years. But we shouldn't dwell on that. Because of you, Shili now has a future again." She gave Ahsoka a kind smile. "How about you get some rest now? You look ready to pass out. We will take care of everything else. Later this afternoon, you will become queen of Shili."

Ahsoka nodded. "That sounds like a good idea," she replied. She was tired, she wouldn't deny that now. She was still recovering and this ordeal had been incredibly exhausting.

"Come on then, let me show you to the royal quarters," Silara said. "Hopefully they're still a bit tidy, considering his _habits_ ," she added with a bit of a frown as she began to lead Ahsoka there.

 **;-**

 **That's the end of this chapter.**

 **Ahsoka learned a terrible truth about what really happened to her family. They were killed by the usurper so he could claim the throne. Now that he's out of the way, Ahsoka will be able to become queen.**

 **Because she's still recovering from everything that happened, she will retire to get some rest now. While she takes a break, the royal guards will prepare everything for her coronation. In the next chapter, she will be crowned queen of Shili.**

 **I'm going to be working on the wedding chapter for Tale of a Togruta next. After that chapter, the story will enter a timeskip, just like A Mirialan's Story. After that, I will be making a small side-story for Tale of a Togruta set about 2 months after the wedding. In this story, Ahsoka will take Aisha to a tribe deep inside the wild plains of Shili, to partake in one of their people's most known traditions, the Akul hunt. Will Aisha succeed in taking down one of the mighty beasts and make her own headdress?**

 **Until next time.**


	5. Chapter 5 - A New Queen

**Chapter 5 – A New Queen**

 **The next chapter is done. Ahsoka will learn some more about the things that have happened on Shili while the usurper had the throne and she'll already take steps to change things for the better. After that, she'll get ready for her coronation.**

 **Hope you enjoy.**

 **;-**

Ahsoka Tano woke up slowly. The few hours of sleep had done her really well. She wasn't fully recovered yet, but she was doing better than before she went to sleep.

She stretched her body a bit and looked around the room. This used to be her sister's bedroom. It had thankfully been left untouched by the usurper. The castle's master bedroom, the one that had belonged to her parents, was a different story. There was no way she'd set foot in there until all of the furniture had been replaced and everything else cleaned at least three times. Even then, it would require quite some Force work on her part to get rid of the nasty aura that had been left in the room because of his actions there.

She sat up in the bed and turned her attention to the three others that were in the room with her. They were three Togruta females with varying shades of green skin, probably around her age or a few years older. She assumed they were servants of the palace, but… " _During my travels as a Jedi I've seen street girls and slaves that wore more clothes than them,"_ she thought as she studied the three girls.

"Uhm, hello there," she greeted the three of them. The three girls bowed a little nervously, the skimpy top nearly slipping off from the youngest of the three. _"My old tube top was small but even_ that _covered more,_ " she couldn't help but think.

The middle of the three girls, with the darkest skin and who seemed to be the oldest, stepped forward. "G-good afternoon milady, we're here to take care of you," she said while trying to keep her voice a little too straight. "Please tell us what you need."

Ahsoka felt vomit rise in her throat and could barely keep it down. The skimpy outfits the girls wore, the awful things she felt through the Force from them, it was pretty clear what kind of sick things that pig had done to them.

She took a few deep breaths to steady herself before she looked at the three of them again. "Please, for the love of the Force, go and put some normal clothes on. I don't ever want to see you wearing such things again," she told them. "And tell others to do the same."

Relief flooded from them through the Force. They all said a quick thanks and bowed slightly before leaving the room. Ahsoka shook her head after the door closed behind them. " _Just how much more of these nasty surprises are waiting for me?_ " she couldn't help but ask herself. Pushing that thought aside for now, she got out of bed and got ready for the rest of the day.

;-

Silara made her way Naya Vashee's old bedroom, where her younger sister Ahsoka was resting now. Their parent's room, the royal bedchamber, was now a room where she didn't want to set foot in herself right now and she definitely didn't want Ahsoka to go in there. That slime of an usurper had such horrible things in that room. It should be burned down to cleanse his actions from them.

She reached the bedroom and knocked on the door. She hoped that Ahsoka felt better now. After everything that already happened to her and the episode of sickness that she went through, she was very concerned for her old friend's daughter. She promised on her memory that she would do everything she could to keep her daughter safe.

"Come in," she heard Ahsoka's voice call out to her.

Silara opened the door and walked inside the room. Ahsoka was sitting at the desk in the room, looking at a few old pictures of her sister. This room thankfully hadn't been touched by that madman. As she looked around though, she noticed something a little odd. "Didn't any of the palace servants come to help you?" she asked.

Ahsoka nodded. "They did, but…" she paused and took a deep breath, a pained expression on her face. "I send them away to put some normal clothes on. There's no way I want them to keep walking around in those ragged scraps. I could sense it… The things that that _animal_ did to them…" she said, unable to keep her fangs from baring with the last bit.

Silara walked up to her and kneeled down. "I know Ahsoka, he was a monster in the way he treated everyone, especially the girls that were servants here at the palace and the ones he forced to be here," she replied, trying to keep her own voice calm. "But thanks to you, they are all safe again now. You are already helping the people of Shili."

Ahsoka gave a small smile at that. "Thank you Silara. I'm just having a hard time processing everything that has already happened to me and all of the things that I'm discovering now. Besides that, becoming queen, I can't help but be nervous and worried."

Silara nodded. "Don't worry Ahsoka, I understand," she said comfortingly. "You have experienced horrors beyond anything I can imagine. You have suffered a lot, a cruel fate for someone so young. But you still keep going, you refuse to let it break you. You have a powerful spirit. I know that you will do great as queen and there are a lot of people that are willing to follow and support you." She smiled at her. "You'll see that soon enough, when you are crowned as queen." Ahsoka's smile grew a bit larger and she nodded.

Silara looked her over a bit. "How are you feeling right now? Were you able to get some rest?" she asked.

"Yes, I'm doing better, thanks," Ahsoka replied. "I'm nowhere near how I used to be," she said as she felt her forehead, "but I'm doing better than before."

"That's good to hear. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll recover soon," Silara replied. She noticed how Ahsoka felt her forehead. "Did you used to have an Akul-tooth headdress?"

"Yes, I did," Ahsoka said as she nodded. "I was on Shili when I was twelve and completed my Akul hunt. I made a headdress and had it with me ever since. But… I no longer had it after…"

Silara could see the look in her eyes, so she decided to ask further about a different part of her words, something that she wanted to confirm. "You really killed your first Akul at the age of twelve?"

"Yes, I did. I had passed the initiate trials and I wanted to do our people's rite of passage as well. I wasn't sure when I'd ever get such an opportunity, so when Master Ti approached me with it, I accepted," Ahsoka replied, another pained look flickering across her face when she mentioned the Jedi Master.

"That's really impressive Ahsoka. I don't think I could have done that myself. I made my first kill when I was sixteen," Silara said quickly, hoping to distract her from painful memories. "Not your mother though, she made her first kill at fourteen, but I think that she would have done it sooner had the chance presented itself."

Ahsoka smiled as she realized that she and her mother were quite alike. "Thank you Silara," she replied.

"My pleasure," Silara said with a smile. "Now then, shall we go and get something to eat? After that, we'll need to get you ready for your coronation."

"Sounds good to me," Ahsoka replied as they stood up and made to leave the room.

;-

Ahsoka followed Silara into one of the dining chambers of the palace. She noticed that there were ten servant girls in the room as well, including the three that were in her room earlier. Thankfully, they were all dressed in normal clothes now. Every one of them bowed their head when she entered the room.

" _That's going to take some getting used to,_ " Ahsoka thought as she looked around the room. Her eyes widened when she saw that the table was completely filled with all kinds of dishes. The table looked like one she expected to find at a party of a group of rich senators. "What is with all this food? Was that sleemo planning a party or something?" she asked the others in the room.

"Ehm… No, milady," a young red-skinned woman replied. "This was all for him."

Ahsoka looked at the table again in slight shock. "Are you telling me that he ate all of this himself?" she asked in disbelief.

The same woman shook her head. "No, he just took what he felt like and then left," she answered.

Ahsoka shook her head as well. "Did the rest of the food go to all of you then?" she asked the woman.

She shook her head again. "N-no, we had to throw everything else away. If he ever caught anyone trying to take some of it…" she stopped and looked at one of the others in the room.

Ahsoka looked at the girl as well and saw that she had her arm in a cast. She frowned and took a few deep breaths.

"Ahsoka, are you alright?" Silara asked concerned.

"I'm okay, it's just…" she paused and looked at Silara. "Yesterday I saw two young children digging through the trash looking for food for their sick mother, despite that they themselves were starving as well. They were searching through the trash and that pig was wasting this much on a daily basis?" She shook her head and sighed in frustration.

Silara shook her head as well. "I know, it's disgusting," she replied. "But he won't be able to do that again. You have already made sure of that and you'll see to it that everything else on Shili will improve as well."

"I'll do whatever I can," Ahsoka said as she nodded. "Uhm, hey Silara? I believe I'm not officially queen yet until I'm crowned later today, but can I already make a suggestion about something?"

Silara chuckled a bit. "Don't worry Ahsoka, you can already give orders if you want to. I'm sure that everyone here will be happy to follow them," she said reassuringly.

Ahsoka nodded and smiled a little. "You told me that there were people that have lost their homes because of his insane taxes. I'm sure that this palace has a few large halls that we can place a number of beds in, right? I really don't want to see anyone spend another night on the streets. So, could anyone look into that?"

Silara smiled as she was reminded of Ashaiya's kindness. It was obvious that her daughter had inherited that same kindness. "It would be my pleasure to have someone look into that. I'll take care of it," she replied. "Now then, dig in," she said as she gestured at the table.

Ahsoka looked at the table and sighed. "If I eat all of that myself I'll either become a Hutt or my stomach will explode," she replied as she shook her head. She looked at the others in the room. "How about you give me a hand here?"

"I'm sorry milady, but that would be inappropriate," a young woman with blue skin on her right replied.

"Silara, didn't you say that everyone here would be happy to follow my orders, right?" Ahsoka asked with a slight smirk.

"Yes, that's right," Silara replied, already suspecting slightly where Ahsoka was going with this.

Ahsoka's smirk grew a bit wider. "Well then, I'm ordering you all to join me," she told the group. To her surprise, a few of the older girls in the room and Silara started laughing. "What's so funny?" she asked a bit confused.

"Nothing milady," a green skinned woman at her left replied. "It's just that," she paused and smiled. "Your mother always used to say the same thing."

Ahsoka smiled as well as they all sat down at the table, with her at the head of it. Silara sat down next to her on her right and the other girls sat down around the table. She looked at all of the dishes on the table. "I wouldn't even know where to start. How about one of you recommend something?" she suggested as she looked at the girls closest to her.

"Then may I suggest this dish?" the same greed skinned woman replied as she gestured at a dish next to her. "Your mother and sister always enjoyed it a lot."

"That sounds good to me," Ahsoka said with a smile. "Thank you, and I'll make sure to try and learn all of your names soon as well."

;-

Ahsoka followed Silara into a large hall of the palace. Silara was showing her around the palace a bit while the others prepared everything for her coronation. Right now they were following up on Ahsoka's earlier idea of preparing a place for people to stay. According to Silara, this hall should have the space necessary for it.

As she walked into the hall, Ahsoka's eyes went wide. Never before had she seen so much speeders in one place before. The entire hall was filled with them, all kinds of different sorts. At one side of the hall were all kinds of new and expensive looking speeders, as well as very fast sport models. The other area of the hall was filled with what she would consider to be normal family speeders.

She turned to Silara. "What is all this?" she asked confused.

Silara turned to her with an equally confused expression. "I have no idea," she replied.

One of the workers in the hall spotted them and walked up to them. "Milady, welcome, it's a pleasure to meet you," the man greeted her eagerly. "My name is Mannis, what can I do for you?"

"Thank you. Uhm, what is all this?" Ahsoka asked him as she gestured at the speeders.

"Ah, yes," Mannis replied. "This is, used to be I guess now, the speeder collection of that despicable man." He turned around and gestured around the room. "He collected all kinds of expensive speeders, wasting incredible amounts of funding on them. The other speeders over there are all of the speeders he had impounded when people couldn't afford his nonsense taxes."

"Unbelievable…" Ahsoka muttered as she looked around the room again.

"Milady, a question if I may," Mannis asked her. Ahsoka turned to him and nodded. "Earlier today, he had more orders placed for a number of very expensive speeders. Should we let it stand or cancel the order?"

"Cancel it," Ahsoka replied almost immediately. "There's no point in more money being wasted on them."

"We'll get right on that, thank you milady" Mannis said as he gave a slight bow. "This will hopefully save us some money so that we can actually put it to good use. Our ancestors know that Shili needs it."

"A fine decision Ahsoka," Silara said with a smile. "But what shall we do with the rest of these speeders?"

Ahsoka thought it over a moment as she looked over the speeders. "You know what? I really like this blue speeder, I'll keep this one for myself, should I want to take a little trip," she said as she pointed at a nearby speeder.

She pointed over to a different set of speeders in another section of the hall. "Those speeders over there are very fast models. We can move those over to your barracks when it's repaired Silara. Those fast speeders should help you and the other warriors to get anywhere you need very fast," she suggested.

Silara smiled at her thinking. "I like that idea. I'm sure that we can make great use of them," she replied. "And the others?"

Ahsoka looked over at the impounded speeders. "I hope that there are lists of all of the impounded speeders?" she asked Mannis.

He nodded. "Yes, because everything went through the tax system, we have everything documented," he explained.

"That's good to hear," Ahsoka said. "That means we can start returning them to the people. Can you and the others get to work on finding out which speeder belonged to which families? I'm want to start reversing the things he's done as soon as possible."

Mannis smiled and nodded. "It would be my pleasure to do so milady," he replied. "I always hated it when we had to go to families to impound their speeders. It was horrible to see them like that. I can't wait to start returning them." He looked over the impounded speeders, shame rolling off of him through the Force. He then cleared his throat and turned back to her. "And what would you like to do with the rest of the speeders milady?" he asked as he gestured at the third section of speeders.

Ahsoka looked at them with a practiced eye. Those speeders were all kinds of expensive models. Those were mostly made for their looks, not their performance. They sold for big prices, but wouldn't even be able to outperform normal family speeders. "Those are pretty much useless pieces of shiny metal," she replied as she looked at Mannis. "Do me a favor, have them all catalogued. We'll see if we can sell all of them. We can hopefully get a bunch of credits for them that can go towards helping Shili."

Mannis' smile grew larger and he bowed. "Yes milady, I will get someone on that right away," he said with great enthusiasm in his voice. "We will take care of it all and get back to you as soon as possible." He then bowed again and went back to the rest of his staff to set everyone to work.

Silara had been smiling the entire time and was still smiling when she turned back to Ahsoka. "I think you made some really good choices there Ahsoka," she said. "Considering how doubtful you were yesterday, your current decisions are already helping Shili. The people will be very happy to have their speeders back, myself and the other warriors will get some great means of transportation and the funds from selling those other speeders will really help out. You'll be a fine queen."

Ahsoka turned to her and smiled. "Thank you Silara, I hope I can continue to make good decisions everywhere. I know a lot about speeders and mechanics, but in other areas, well… Let's say I could use some assistance," she replied.

Silara nodded understandingly. "Don't worry Ahsoka, your parents had plenty of advisors to help them with all kinds of decisions. The senator helped them a lot as well, she always had great ideas for Shili," she paused a moment. "Lots of them quit or were fired when that scum usurped the throne, but I'm sure that they will be willing to help you restore Shili again to what it was before."

Ahsoka smiled with that idea. "That sounds good, Silara. I think I could really use their help. I'm sure we can find some way to get in touch with them," she replied. "But what about the senator? How come I haven't seen her yet?"

"Senator T'Rani Corso is still on Coruscant at the moment," Silara answered. "She went there three days ago to ask the senate to provide emergency provisions for Shili. Things are getting pretty bad in some areas of the city. Thankfully, we have you now to help us change everything."

Ahsoka looked down slightly at that. "I see, I don't like hearing that," she replied. She turned to Silara again. "Do you know some people you can get in contact with? Ask them to make a list of the different problems that there are in the city? I want to try to get everything fixed as soon as we can."

Silara smiled again at that. "We'll see that taken care of, don't worry," she said. "There should still be a list of such things in one of the governmental offices, but under _him_ it was never looked at. In fact, I'm pretty sure he make it illegal to look at it."

Ahsoka shook her head. "Unbelievable," she muttered with slight frustration. "How can such people live with themselves?"

"Don't let that trouble you Ahsoka," Silara replied as she checked the time. "Now then, everything for the ceremony should nearing completion. Shall we go and get you ready?"

Ahsoka took a nervous breath. "Alright, let's go," she said with slight hesitation. Silara nodded and they made their way back to her sister's old room, now her room.

;-

Ahsoka walked nervously through the halls of the royal palace of Shili. It was time for her to be crowned as queen of Shili. Try as she might, she couldn't help but worry about what would happen next. The people of Shili had already accepted her, that had been made obvious by the way they reacted to hearing about her existence. The sheer amount of joy that had radiated through the Force was still present.

She was also feeling a bit uncomfortable at being far more dressed up than she usually would be. Sure, it was normal for a queen to be dressed in such a way, but it would take her some time to get used to it. " _It'll take me some time to get used to everything,_ " she thought as she kept walking.

Without question, she was very grateful for all of the help that Silara and the others had already given her and the help that they had promised to keep giving. There was no way that she would be able to do this on her own. She wouldn't even have known where to start. She hoped that those advisors Silara had mentioned would be willing to come back. She could really use their help.

For now, she pushed further thoughts of it away. She was arriving at her destination, the main entrance of the palace. The ceremony would take place just outside the palace, so that everyone would be able to see it.

A large number of palace servants were already waiting there, as well as the H'Raani M'Kai warriors, now dressed in ceremonial looking armor. Silara stood at the front of one of the two rows, giving her a smile and a nod. Ahsoka nodded back and she continued walking. She made her way outside to the elevated area at the top of the entrance steps of the palace. The warriors followed behind her and took their positions along the area.

Ahsoka was greeted by a large amount of applause and excited cheering. The entire area was filled with people. She could also see numerous reporters with recorders, ready to broadcast this throughout Corvala, the other cities of Shili and those tribes that did use the holonet.

Despite how nervous she was, she couldn't help but smile as she sensed the overwhelming joy radiating through the Force. It was very clear that everyone was very happy with her becoming the new queen of Shili. Now she just hoped that she wouldn't let them down.

She looked over at the man standing a few feet away, the ceremony master, as she had been told. A few others stood behind him, two woman stood out especially. One of them was holding a royal looking scepter and the other held a cushion on which a very ornate crown was placed. Earlier, they had measured her head and montrals to make sure that it would fit well.

She took a deep breath before joining the deep-orange skinned man. He smiled and gestured for her to stand next to him. He then turned to the crowd.

"Today, we welcome to the throne the true heir of Shili," he spoke in a voice of authority mixed with happiness. "We have suffered a long time under the usurper's ill-gained rule, no longer. He betrayed all of Shili and will pay the price for it. But now is not the time for such talk."

He gestured at Ahsoka. "It is my greatest pleasure to introduce you to Ahsoka Tano, youngest daughter of king Thraken Vashee and Queen Ashaiya, sister of princess Naya Vashee. She is the true heir to the throne and will serve us all as queen. Milady, if you would please," he said as he gestured in front of him.

She moved closer towards him and he gestured the two woman to come towards him. With a smile on her face, the first woman offered Ahsoka the scepter, which she took as she gave the woman thankful nod.

The ceremony master then turned to the second woman who offered him the crown. He picked it up and turned to Ahsoka. She bowed her head. "It is my great pleasure, to name you queen Ahsoka Tano of Shili," he said as he placed the crown on her head.

Ahsoka stood up straight again and the three bowed to her. She then turned to the crowd and received a large round of applause and cheering again. She took a moment to take it all in, the crown on her head, the scepter in her hand, she was actually the queen of Shili now. The crown felt lighter than she had expected and it fit her well. Whoever had made or adjusted it obviously knew their craft well.

After a few minutes the applause died down and she could feel many a gaze on her. Everything was expecting her to hold a speech now. "Everyone, thank you," she began slightly nervous. "I am not sure what to say. To say that my life has been turned upside down recently would be an understatement. So much happened so suddenly. I came to Shili hoping to find my family and start a new life, only to learn what happened to them and that I was the heir to the throne; that I had the right to the throne of Shili, something that I never thought to hear."

"After my parents learned I was Force-sensitive, I was brought to the Jedi Temple to be raised as a Jedi and learn the ways of the Force. I never once expected to become a queen of any kind. Sure, I was expecting to help people and care for them, but I expected to do so as a Jedi, not a queen, let alone the queen of my own home planet." She paused a short moment.

"However, I've seen the condition Shili is in. I just couldn't allow that to continue. I was never able to sit idly by while people were suffering. I was shocked and surprised when I was asked to become queen, but I have decided to take up the throne to help Shili. You have my word that I will do whatever I can to undo all of the damage that that usurper has done. It will take time, but we will bring Shili back to the way she was before."

A large round of applause and cheering was heard at those words. When it died down again, Ahsoka continued.

"I was told by Silara Triball that some of you once worked for my parents as advisors. I can understand that you didn't want to work for that vile man, I truly do. However, I hope that you will reconsider now. I would really appreciate your help and advice, especially in the coming months. All of Shili can use your ideas. If you would like to help, I'm sure that you will be able to contact someone in the palace."

"As I said, I will do whatever I can to help Shili, but I will ask you to please be patient with me. I will be the first to admit that I don't know anything about being a queen, however, I've also never backed down from a challenge. There will be a lot to do in the coming weeks, but I know that we can help Shili."

She got another round of applause and cheering as many in the crowd bowed. It made her a little uncomfortable, but she did her best not to let it get to her. After the applause died down again, the ceremony master gestured back towards the palace. Ahsoka nodded and began making her back inside.

Once she was back inside she took a deep breath to steady herself a little. She looked around and saw all of the palace servants and royal guards bowing to her as well.

Silara walked up to her with a smile. "It's all official now queen Tano," she said happily. "I know that Shili will be fine with you as queen."

"Thank you, I'll do what I can," Ahsoka replied. "But I think I'd prefer it if you just call me Ahsoka. I'd prefer it if not everyone continuously addresses me as queen."

"Alright then, if that's what you prefer Ahsoka," Silara said slightly amused. "Oh, before I forget, we've scheduled an appointment with the doctors of the palace for you tomorrow."

Ahsoka's face turned to a slight frown as she heard that, which Silara noticed.

Silara managed to keep herself from laughing and continued. "You're still not fully recovered Ahsoka, I just want to make sure that you're doing alright. Especially after everything that happened to you, I'm worried for your health."

Ahsoka felt like disagreeing with Silara and wanted to tell her to cancel that appointment, but she couldn't really bring herself to it. " _As much as I don't like it, she might be right. I'm still weaker than I was before and after everything that happened on Coruscant… Maybe it can give me some answers._ "

With a slight sigh she looked at Silara. "Perhaps you're right," she replied with a bit of reluctance. "Maybe it'll help me feel a bit more like myself again."

"I'm glad that you agree Ahsoka," Silara said with a smile. "Now then, shall we take a look at the place we've prepared to house the people that have lost their homes? We can start bringing them in off the streets after that."

"Sounds good," Ahsoka replied as she nodded. "Lead the way, I'd like to get everyone inside before nightfall." Silara nodded back and she and a few palace staff began to lead Ahsoka to the hall that had been prepared.

 **;-**

 **That's the end of this chapter.**

 **Ahsoka is now the new queen of Shili. She has already taken some steps to improve life on Shili and she will continue to do so in the future. In the next chapter, she'll meet with several advisors and others. The senator will also return to Shili.**

 **I'm going to start up the side story for Tale of a Togruta now. Ahsoka will take Aisha to hunt her first Akul. Once that side story is completed, both Tale of a Togruta and A Mirialan's Story will continue again.**

 **Until next time.**


	6. Chapter 6 - Surprising News

**Chapter 6 – Surprising News**

 **The next chapter is finished. In this chapter, senator Corso of Shili learns what has happened on her home planet.**

 **Hope you enjoy.**

 **;-**

 _Coruscant_

T'Rani Corso, the senator of Shili, sighed deeply as she sat down in her small apartment on Coruscant. The past few days had been very hard on her. Her beloved home planet was in dire need of supplies because their king hoarded so much for himself. He feasted not like a king, but like an overly greedy Hutt, leaving a large amount of the people in Corvala and beyond without food and more.

That is why she had gone to Coruscant. Her hope was to receive emergency supplies from the Republic Senate so that she would be able to at least help her people slightly. Unfortunately, it had become very clear that some of her friends had been right in their opinion about the Republic, that they were too focused on the war and little else.

Her request for supplies hadn't even made it to the Senate chamber. It had been immediately dismissed as not important enough for the Senators to look over. She had tried it several times again, but the result had been the same.

When her first idea didn't work, she had continued to make individual appointments with either single Senators or small groups of them. She had hoped that she would be able to convince several of them to help her people in their time of need. Sadly, it seemed that many of the senators all felt that the war took precedence over helping the citizens of a _neutral_ system. A number of the senators had made the comment in such a way that she almost felt attacked personally because of it. She had all but given up hope of getting any supplies when she suddenly heard a female voice behind her on her way out of the Senate building.

She had turned around to find the senator of Naboo, Padme Amidala, standing there. The human woman smiled at her and said that she had heard of her predicament with the supplies. She had then proceeded to invite her over to a meeting with several other senators who did care about people more than they did money.

What followed had been a lengthy talk with senators Bail Organa, Mon Mothma, Lux Bonteri and Riyo Chuchi. They did listen to what she wanted to say and they did care about the problems that her people faced. Padmé especially cared, seeing as her people had suffered similarly when the Trade Federation had occupied Naboo.

The end result of the conversation had made her whole week, maybe even more. The group of senators would look into whatever supplies they could find for Shili. T'Rani had been smiling widely when she left senator Amidala's office.

Now she was back in her apartment, hoping to catch up on some of the rest that she had not been getting lately because of her worries. Thankfully, she now had a much better chance of getting supplies for her people. All that she had to do now was think of a way to make sure that that greedy sleemo of a king wouldn't take all of the supplies for himself immediately, claiming some stupid tax for Republic goods.

As she sat on her couch, her holotransmitter suddenly went off. She sat up a little straighter and activated the transmission, the hologram of the head of the palace communications appearing. "Good day, miss Kovani," she greeted her old friend. She, like herself, was one of the few people that had kept their positions after their new king took over.

"Hello Senator Corso," Nika Kovani replied, a hint of a smile tugging at her lips from her friends formal greeting. "I have a little update from the palace for you."

"I see, but can this wait? I was planning on resting up now and prepare for my meeting tomorrow," T'Rani said in return. That, and she didn't want to deal with _his_ nonsense right now.

Nika gave her a slight smile. "Sorry senator, but the queen would really like you to return to Shili," she replied.

"Hmm, well, you can tell him that…" T'Rani paused. "Wait, what did you just say? The queen?" she asked in confusion. She couldn't imagine that any woman would want to marry that pig.

Nika nodded and her smile grew. "Yes T'Rani, the queen," she said with a trace of happiness in her voice. "King Thraken and queen Ashaiya, their youngest daughter was still alive. She revealed herself to us and marched on the palace with the H'Raani M'Kai." She continued to tell her friend about what had happened.

T'Rani was silent as she processed her friend's words. Their 'king' had murdered the royal family and then usurped the throne. But now, after all these years of suffering under him, it had turned out that their youngest daughter was alive. With support from the H'Raani M'Kai, she had taken the throne from him and he was now in prison where he belonged. They had a new queen. It seemed like an impossible dream.

"We… we really have a new queen? His terror is really over?" T'Rani asked her friend, wanting the confirmation.

Nika nodded again. "Yes, we have a new queen and she's just as kind and caring as her mother," she said happily. "She has already made work of undoing his file actions. The palace girls no longer have to dress like prostitutes and they are safe from being molested. She had one of the halls of the palace filled with beds and had all of the homeless people brought in from the streets, so that they no longer had to sleep outside. Numerous other workers of the palace are looking into other things that he stole from the people and finding ways to return them to the people. Everything on Shili is changing for the better. The people are smiling again."

T'Rani could barely believe her montrals. "I… I can hardly believe it. I hoped for so long and now…" she replied, her words failing her in her happiness.

Nika smiled happily. "I know, it's wonderful," she said. "This is the best thing that could have happened to Shili."

T'Rani nodded in agreement. "Yes, you're right. Shili would have collapsed if that animal had been able to continue to do as he pleased," she replied as she wiped away a tear from her eye.

Nika gave her another nod. "Like I said, she's already been very busy. Thanks to her, all of the food and supplies that he had hoarded away in the palace became available again. Under the instruction of the royal guard, it's being delivered to where it's needed most right now. We no longer have any need for supplies from the Republic," she told her friend.

"I see," T'Rani replied with mixed emotions. She was glad for her people of course, relieved that they now had what they needed. There was a bit of annoyance as well, the time she had spent on Coruscant was now wasted in a way, but she quickly pushed those thoughts away, the change on Shili was well worth her trouble. Mostly, she felt anger at that vile usurper, that he had hoarded away such insane amounts of food while others starved. He would get what's coming to him, she would make sure of that.

She turned her attention back to her friend. "So, what does the queen want me to do now?" she asked.

"Well, for starters, she's eager to meet you," Nika answered with a smile. "After that, she wants to see what can be done about renewing the old trade routes and agreements that we used to have with other systems. She will need your knowledge and expertise for that. If we can successfully restore those, Shili will be back on the way to full recovery. Also, she's eager to see your renovation plans."

T'Rani was a little stunned by everything. "Y-yes, of course. I'll go and see the senators I spoke with earlier to tell them about this new development and then I'll make my way back to Shili," she replied quickly. "I'm incredibly eager to meet her as well."

"I'll tell everyone to prepare for your arrival. See you soon T'Rani," Nika told her before the transmission ended.

For a few minutes, T'Rani just stared at the holotransmitter. After all of the years of helplessly watching her people suffer, the fact that they now had a new queen seemed like a dream. Only it wasn't a dream, it really did happen.

She stood up from the couch. There was so much to be done now! Without him and his taxes, the people didn't have to fear losing everything that they had worked for. His insanity would no longer block renovation or expansion projects in the city. His greed would no longer be able to destroy the trade with other systems. There were rid of all of that!

" _First things first,_ _I need to thank senator Amidala and the others for their help and inform them that it is no longer needed. After that, I need to pack my things and head back to Shili. I can sleep on the ship._ " She planned what to do next. Before she left her apartment, she send a note to her pilot to start preparing the ship for departure.

;-

 _The Senate building_

"Please follow me Senator."

T'Rani followed the gold-plated protocol droid into Senator Amidala's office. Senator Padmé Amidala was still with the other senators, apparently discussing some bill that would likely be discussed soon in the Republic senate.

"Excuse me, mistress Padmé, but Senator Corso of Shili is here to see you again," the protocol droid announced.

The senators turned to her in slight surprise. "Thank you Threepio," Senator Amidala replied. The droid gave a slight bow and walked away. "Senator Corso, nice to see you again. What brings you back here so soon? Did you want to see if we have been able to find some supplies for you?"

"It's nice to see you again as well senators," T'Rani replied. "I did come here about the supplies, but not to check on them. Instead, I'm here to tell you that we won't be needing them anymore."

This confused the others in the room quite a bit. "I'm not sure I understand. Did something happen senator?" the Pantoran senator Riyo Chuchi asked.

"Yes, it has," T'Rani replied with a growing smile. "I was contacted by the palace earlier with some very surprising news. We have a new queen now."

"You do?" Padmé asked in surprise. "How did that happen?" From what the Shilian senator had told them before, she had drawn the conclusion that the king of Shili was a man that no one would ever want to marry.

"The youngest daughter of our late king and queen was still alive. She met up with the members of the old royal guard and together they marched on the palace," T'Rani smiled as she said that, but then her smile faded. "From what I was told, it was also revealed that our so called _king_ was behind what happened to the royal family. It wasn't an accident, he murdered them to usurp the throne. But now, he's been taken down and locked up. Their youngest daughter is now our queen and from what I've heard, she's already changing everything on Shili for the better."

"That's fantastic news! Congratulations senator," Bail Organa said. "So this is why don't need the supplies any longer?"

"That's right, senator Organa," T'Rani replied. "Now, everything that he had stolen from the people is being returned. Everything that he took for himself we can now share with the people. No one has to live in fear of losing everything anymore."

"It sounds like fortune is smiling upon Shili. What are you going to do now then?" Padmé asked her.

"I'm heading back to Shili shortly. The queen is eager to meet me and I am just as eager to meet her," T'Rani replied. "She also wants my help in re-opening the trade agreements that we lost because of his greed and look at the renovation plans that I had. There is so much that we can do now."

"That sounds wonderful senator," Mon Mothma said. "We will not keep you then. I'm sure that you are eager to return to Shili."

"I am senator, I really am," T'Rani replied. "I haven't been this optimistic about Shiili's future in years. Thank you again for offering to help Shili, it really means a lot to me, especially after the way some of your colleagues rudely turned me down."

"It was our pleasure senator," Padmé said with a smile. "Unlike some of our fellow senators, we still remember to care for others and help them. May the Force be with you and Shili."

"Thank you senator," T'Rani replied. She bid them goodbye before she returned to her apartment to gather her belongings. From there, she went directly back to the spaceport where her ship was, to travel back to Shili.

;-

 _Shili_

Senator T'Rani Corso could barely contain her excitement as the boarding ramp of her ship lowered. When she left Shili to go to Coruscant, she dreaded how things would be on her return. " _How things have changed._ " She thought with a smile.

The ramp was fully lowered now and her eyes went wide. Waiting for her was a group of the old royal guards standing at attention in full armor. A sight that she had missed more than she was willing to admit.

Her friend Nika Kovani was waiting for her with a big smile on her face. "T'Rani, welcome home," she said happily. "We've all been eagerly awaiting your return."

"It's good to see you as well Nika," T'Rani replied with a smile. "And everyone else as well, I've truly missed this sight," she added as she gestured at the warriors. They all gave her a smile and a salute in return.

"I know what you mean T'Rani, I know what you mean," Nika said as she looked around as well. "Come on, the queen is waiting for you."

T'Rani nodded. "I am eager to see her as well, lead the way my friend," she replied quickly. Nika nodded and began to lead her friend towards the palace gates.

;-

As they walked, T'Rani couldn't help but feel a lot more relieved than she had in a long time. The entire atmosphere in the palace had already changed so much. Everyone they passed was smiling again. The halls were much cleaner and livelier than before. It was such a big change compared to the week before.

A group of palace servants, now dressed in normal clothes again, were bringing a few carts with food to a different hall in the palace. They all smiled when they passed the senator. It made her feel a lot better than the last time she had passed a group of them. Then they were all still forced to wear those ridiculous rags and that vile pig abused them at will. Now, they were all smiling again and it made her very happy.

She felt even better when Nika explained to her that those girls were delivering the food to the people that stayed in another hall of the palace. It did her good to see that their new queen did care for the people that had been left homeless because of the usurper's greed.

After a few minutes of walking they arrived at one of the smaller meeting rooms. The door opened and they walked into the room. T'Rani paused a moment as she looked at the queen. For a brief moment, she swore that she was looking at their late queen Ashaiya Tano. She looked so much like her.

The young woman turned around and smiled when she saw her. She walked up to her. "You must be senator T'Rani Corso," she said in a voice sounding very similar to her mother's.

"Yes, I am milady," T'Rani replied as she bowed. "It really is a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise, it's good to meet you," she replied. "My name is Ahsoka Tano, the new queen of Shili. I'm sure that we'll get along great. I'll be needing your help to make sure that everything goes well for our people."

"I will be very happy to do so," T'Rani said happily. "But, why didn't you call yourself Vashee? That is your families name after all."

Ahsoka nodded. "Yes, you're right, it is," she replied. "It's just that… I've always had my mother's name. For years I've called myself 'Tano', simply because it was the only name I knew. I gave it a bit of thought, but I decided to keep my mother's name. I just feel better that way." She paused and took a deep breath. "My life has been completely turned upside down lately, so I want to at least keep some things the same."

"I see," T'Rani said in return. She could tell that there was more to her words, but she would be able to get her full story later. "It's fine. I'm just very glad that we finally have a new ruler. It's been so hard on everyone."

"I can imagine, watching but being unable to help as people suffer is terrible," Ahsoka replied. "But that is no longer the case here on Shili. We have already made some much needed changes, but we'll need your help to do more."

"I will gladly help you milady," T'Rani said with a smile. "What is it you would like me to do?"

Ahsoka smiled as well. "Well, I heard that you had some renovation plans for the city. Let's take a look at that first," she replied. "After that, I want to see what we can do about restoring the old trade routes that Shili once had. I think that we can use all the supplies we can get."

"It would be my pleasure to help you with that," T'Rani said happily. "Give me a little bit to get everything ready, then I'll be happy to show you the renovation plans I had made."

Ahsoka nodded. "Don't worry, take some time to get settled in first," she replied. "You just rushed back to Shili after all. Come find me when you're all set."

T'Rani nodded as well. "I will, thank you milady. I'll see you later," she said as she gave another bow. She then left the room.

;-

 _A few hours later_

Ahsoka waited on the throne in the large throne room with a smile. At her request, the palace staff had identified the ship that she had travelled to Shili with and she had them invite the captain and the engineer Riyec to the palace. She wanted to give them a proper thanks for bringing her to Shili and looking out for her during the flight. That, and she also had work for them.

T'Rani was good at what she did, Ahsoka definitely gave her that. She had already managed to contact one of the systems that her parents had always had good relations with, one that was ruined because of that usurper, and she had been able to at least reopen their former trade agreements. This meant that there was an assortment of supplies now available to them and she needed a trustworthy and dependable crew to pick them up.

A palace servant walked into the room through the open entrance doors, followed by two older male Togruta. She recognized one of them as the engineer Riyec. Through the Force, she could sense that they were quite confused with being summoned to the palace.

The two of them walked up to her then stopped and bowed when they were a short distance away. "Good day your majesty, my name is Cregan Hardin, captain of the _Verminus_. This is my crewmember and engineer Riyec Arrayo," the captain introduced them. "What is it that we can do for you?"

Ahsoka smiled at them. "There is a little job that I have for you and your crew captain," she told him. "But first I wanted to thank you."

The confusion was quite visible on their faces. "Thank us? For what, milady? I'm not sure I understand," Cregan replied as he looked at Riyec. He shook his head as well.

She looked at Riyec. "You don't know? I was able to get here safely because of you," she said with a smile. "I'll admit, I probably look a little different now that my skin is back to its original color."

With those words, Riyec's eyes widened. "You were the stowaway we had on board?" he asked in shock. His captain was also startled at his question.

"That's right," Ahsoka replied as she nodded. "I was in a really bad shape. Some horrible things had happened to me and I wasn't sure what was going to happen to me or what I was going to do, but thanks to your help I was able to get to Shili safely. I managed to meet up with Silara Triball and from there, well…" she paused and gestured at the crown she wore and the throne room.

"Well, I can definitely say that it was our pleasure milady," Cregan said as Riyec nodded in agreement. "I wish that you had told us who you where though, we could have done more for you then."

"Thank you for saying that, but back then I didn't even know that I was the heir to the throne," Ahsoka replied. "I lived all my life as a Jedi. I had no idea about who my family was. When I travelled to Shili, I was hoping to find them, but they were already dead. Silara then shocked me with the news that I was the heir and that she wanted me to become the queen of Shili." She shook her head. "I had to give it quite some thought, I'll not pretend to know anything about being a queen, but I couldn't just let the suffering on Shili continue. Speaking of, that's where you come in now."

The two crewmates shared a look. "Of course milady, what can we do for you?" Cregan asked.

Ahsoka smiled at them. "Senator T'Rani Corso has already proven herself to me as a great negotiator. She managed to restore the trade agreement we had with another system, an agreement that was ruined by the greed of that vile usurper, like so many other things," she told them. "Thanks to T'Rani, we have now secured a bunch of much needed supplies. So, I'm in need of a dependable crew to pick them up. Interested?"

Captain Cregan nodded. "Yes milady, the _Verminus_ is at your disposal," he replied. "We're happy to help."

"I'm glad to hear that," Ahsoka said with a smile. "And don't worry, you'll be paid well for this trip. I overheard you saying that you lost a lot of your funding because of the repairs on Coruscant. You'll be helping Shili, so I don't want you to worry about financial troubles."

Both crewmembers looked at each other in shock again. That little fact was definitely true. The repairs had set them back immensely. "T-thank you milady," Cregan replied in surprise. "That will really help us."

"I'm glad to hear that," Ahsoka said as she gestured at someone else in the room. "If you would be so kind, please follow him to one of the communication offices. They'll give you the details on the trip. If you require more fuel or supplies, let someone know and we'll see it taken care off."

Cregan and Riyec both smiled and bowed. "You are very kind milady," Cregan replied. "We will get right on it. Please let us know if you have more jobs that we can help you with. It would be our pleasure."

"I will be sure to do so," Ahsoka said as she nodded. "If everything keeps going well, we might just have more jobs for you soon." The two crewmembers bowed again before they followed the worker out of the throne room.

;-

Ahsoka was sitting on a small balcony that overlooked the garden behind the palace. She was grateful for the fact that the gardens were still fully in bloom and had not been left to rot and die under that usurper's reign.

The caretakers of the garden had continued their work. He had not cared for the gardens at all, so he had never entered them or done anything with them at all. She was glad for that.

Senator T'Rani Corso walked onto the balcony. She quickly found the queen and walked towards her. "Hello milady, may I join you?" she asked.

"Of course, please sit down," Ahsoka replied with a smile as she gestured at the seat next to her. "I found a reliable crew to go and pick up the supplies that you secured for us. They departed about an hour ago, so we should have it all pretty soon."

T'Rani smiled. "That's good to hear milady," she said happily. "Once we have those supplies, we can finally get some of the renovations started. I honestly didn't think that it would ever happen."

Ahsoka chuckled a bit. "I honestly never thought that I would be a queen. Sometimes the strangest and most unexpected things can happen," she replied.

T'Rani looked at her a moment. The tone of her voice did not have a very happy undertone. By now, she knew what had happened to their new queen. She felt so sorry that someone so young and with such an obvious kind heart had to suffer so. "Milady, all of us are with you. We are here for you if you need anything, just let us know," she said kindly.

Ahsoka smiled lightly. "I know, Silara also made that very clear. I've just been through a lot already, then I suddenly learn I'm royalty and now I'm the queen of my homeplanet. I just need some time to process everything," she said as she looked over at the senator. "Oh, and one thing, just call me Ahsoka. It's going to get on my nerves if everyone keeps calling me by such titles."

T'Rani smiled in amusement. "Very well Ahsoka, if that's what you want," she said. "Then please call me T'Rani as well."

"I will," Ahsoka replied. "I'm going to head into the gardens to try and meditate a little. Will I see you later at dinner? It would be nice to get to know you a bit more."

"Of course, I'll see you then," T'Rani said as she gave a slight bow. Ahsoka nodded and left the balcony.

 **;-**

 **That's the end of this chapter.**

 **Ahsoka has now met the senator and they have already continued their work to restore Shili. There is still much to do, but they are both determined to see everything through.**

 **I'm going to work on a new chapter for my side story The Hunt next. Ahsoka will spend some time with the tribe and Aisha will be preparing for her Akul hunt.**

 **Until next time.**


	7. Chapter 7 - The Challenges of Ruling

**Chapter 7 – The Challenges of Ruling**

 **I'm finished with the next chapter of this story. Ahsoka has been queen for a short while now, getting a little used to life as a queen. However, there are many different hardships that a queen can face as well as decisions that she will find difficult.**

 **Hope you enjoy.**

 **;-**

Queen Ahsoka Tano of Shili looked at her reflection in the large mirror of her bedroom. Little over two weeks had passed since Senator T'Rani Corso had returned to Shili. Since then, they had been able to do a lot of work to help the people. Her renovation plans were already underway and the results were beginning to show. A lot of people were very happy with them and a number of them had also volunteered to help wherever they could. The mood in the city had been very good.

Ahsoka smiled as she studied herself in the mirror. Three days ago, she had travelled to a nearby tribe with a number of royal guards. Her reason had been simple: she needed a new headdress. Every time that she saw her reflection it had made her feel a little uneasy, so she wanted that little problem fixed. A few of the warriors had expressed some concerns, but she had thanked them for worrying and dismissed their concerns. She had done killed an Akul before and she could do it again.

Hunting for an Akul again had been an exhilarating experience. The thrill of the hunt was the same as the last time. Her skills thankfully hadn't gotten rusty over the years, so she had a very successful hunt. She now had a new headdress sitting on her forehead and she was very glad for that.

The hunt had been very welcome after what happened earlier in the week. Following a brief trial, seeing as he had already confessed to it in the throne room, the usurper Goran Reendorr had been sentenced to death for his crimes against the royal family of Shili. Being queen, Ahsoka had to be there during the trial. It hadn't been a very pleasant experience, especially after her own trial which had resulted in her being executed.

His execution had been the following day. No one in the city had seemed to be against it, quite the opposite really, quite a large group of people had already been demanding his execution. It had all been very trying on her, but she wasn't going to stand in the way of what they people wanted. They had all suffered under him for so long.

The laws of Shili were very clear on such crimes against the royal family, so he was sentenced and executed. It was what he deserved.

She was just glad that she hadn't been required to be present during the execution itself. She had the idea that Shaden, Silara and senator Corso had pulled some strings behind her back, but she was glad for that. She wasn't sure if she would have been able to handle it after her own experience. It was all over now, he would soon be a nasty memory for the people and they could all move forward again.

She pushed the memories away and turned her attention back to the servant girl who walked into the room with a cup of tea.

The green skilled girl smiled at her as she placed the cup on the nearby table. "Welcome back milady, I'm glad that you returned safely from your hunt. You had us a little worried, the Akul are always dangerous," she said as she gave a slight bow. "If I may, your new headdress looks great on you."

"Thank you Lyra," Ahsoka replied with a smile. "It was a thrilling hunt, just like how I remember my first hunt was. It went well and I must say that I am very glad to have a headdress on my forehead again. I just didn't feel right without it." She glanced over at herself in the mirror again before turning back to Lyra. "How about you? Did you never feel like hunting an Akul yourself? She asked, noticing her lack of a headdress.

Lyra gently shook her head, lekku swaying along. "No milady, I'm not a fighter like yourself and the others. I don't dare to hunt the Akul myself," she said honestly. "I've always been more of a crafter. I'm really good in sowing and wood crafting. Some people might not find it that exciting, but I enjoy it greatly."

Ahsoka looked at her a moment. The custom wooden engraved bracelets on her arms were hard to miss, as was the intricate pattern on her sash. "So you made your bracelets and sash yourself?" she asked.

Lyra nodded. "That's right milady, I did," she replied with a smile. "I've also made a number of dresses and other clothing with my mother. Quite a few of my friends always asked me to make something for them."

Ahsoka smiled as well. "That's pretty impressive," she said. "While fighting in the way, I learned how to sow to do simple repairs for my clothes and whatnot for when they tore during the fighting, but I doubt that I would have the patience to do much more than that." She laughed a bit and was pleased that Lyra was slightly laughing as well. "How have things been here while I was away?"

"It all went pretty good milady," Lyra replied. "More of the smaller renovation projects in the city have been completed. Because of that, we were able to help more of the people that were staying in the palace to return to their own homes, the ones that were taken from them by that usurper. They were fixed up again and ready to be moved into."

"That's wonderful news," Ahsoka said with a smile. "I'm glad that they were able to finally return home. I'm sure that T'Rani will fill me in about the other projects soon."

"I'm sure that she'll be eager to. I haven't seen her smile this much in years," Lyra replied. "I will return to my duties now. Goodnight milady."

"Alright, thank you Lyra," Ahsoka said. Lyra bowed to her and left the room.

;-

A warning sensation rippled through the Force and Ahsoka opened her eyes. The small holo-clock on the nightstand read 03:22. It was in the middle of the night, something wasn't right. She reached out with the Force around her and a felt a strong sense of direct danger.

She slowly shifted in the bed a bit, making it seem like she was just moving in her sleep a little. Her mother's katana were still sitting next to the bed where she had left them. She grabbed hold of them with the Force, ready to call them into her hands at a seconds notice.

One of the first things that the royal guards had told her about after becoming queen was the little emergency button that was located in multiple rooms of the palace, ready to be used in case of emergency to immediately signal them. She pushed it with the Force, to let them know that something was wrong.

The sound of silent movement filled her montrals. Someone was definitely in her room, heading straight for her. Between the Force and her montrals she could clearly tell that the unknown threat reached for a weapon of sort and moved to strike her lying in bed.

She waited calmly for the threat to get a little bit closer. " _Now!"_ she though as she quickly called the blades towards her and swung at the assailant, blocking his knife and obviously shocking him. The man moved back and she leapt out of the bed, going after him. He swung at her again, but she easily blocked his weapon and knocked it from his hands. He jumped back a bit and reached for the blaster holstered on his side. In response to that, Ahsoka used the Force to slam him into the wall. He slumped down unconscious.

With the threat no longer a threat, Ahsoka used the Force to turn the lights on. Her attacker was a human man, dressed in a form of armor similar to what she had seen bounty hunters and would-be assassins wear before. Just to be on the safe side, she pulled his blaster away with the Force, flinging it away to the other side of the room.

Movement outside her bedroom caught her attention. She already knew what it was when five H'Raani M'Kai warriors stormed into the room. Upon seeing the invader lying unconscious by the wall, two of them quickly moved to him, weapons drawn and at his throat. Two others quickly checked the rest of the room while the fifth warrior came up to her.

It was moments like this that Ahsoka was glad that she had gotten some proper sleepwear. Being more than half-naked would have made this moment incredibly awkward and embarrassing as well. She shook the thought away and focused on what was going on.

"Milady, are you alright?" Cira Tao-Ni, one of the warriors who had stormed to her room asked. Her fellow warriors were already restraining the invader.

Ahsoka nodded. "Yes, I'm alright, thank you Cira," she replied. "Just get this creep out of here for me would you?"

"Don't worry milady, we will," Varik, one of the male warriors replied as he and his warrior brother dragged the unconscious assassin to his feet. "We will make sure that he won't be able to hurt anyone. We'll question him as soon as he wakes up."

"Thank you," Ahsoka replied as the two dragged him out, followed by a third warrior. The remaining tension in her lessened a bit as the assassin was out of the room.

The other remaining warrior, the female markswoman Aurora, walked up to her. "Milady, would you please step out of the room for a moment? I want to scan the room and make sure that he hasn't left anything dangerous behind," she asked her.

That thought hadn't crossed her mind yet. The man was obviously working for someone. If they wanted insurance that she was killed, than they could have told him to plant a bomb in her room as well. She silently scolded herself a little for forgetting the possibility in the heat of the moment. "Good idea Aurora," Ahsoka replied. "Just be careful yourself, I don't want to see you getting hurt if he has planted anything."

Aurora smiled at her. "Don't worry milady, I'll make sure to be careful," she said as she handed Ahsoka a long robe from the nearby closet. Ahsoka nodded her thanks and left the room with Cira.

Ahsoka and Cira went to one of the smaller meeting rooms close by, but far enough from the room should there be a bomb in it. After she sat down, she asked one of the palace staff working a night shift to get her something to drink.

Cira sat down opposite her. "Are you sure you're alright milady?" she asked with concern.

Ahsoka nodded. "Yes, don't worry Cira, I'm fine. Just a little shaken up," she replied. "It's not like people haven't tried to kill me before. In my time with the Order, I was constantly in such danger. I don't want to say that I'm used to it, but…" She shook her head and looked at Cira. "Did you already check in with the other guards? Was no one in the palace hurt?" she asked.

Cira shook her head. "Don't worry milady, everyone is doing fine," she replied. "Are you sure you're alright? This assassin was after you."

Ahsoka studied her a bit. "Yes, I'm fine, but I might take some more time to relax tomorrow," she said with a light smile. "Is everything alright with you? You seem quite concerned about something."

Cira was silent for a bit and looked down slightly. "He should never even have been able to reach your room milady," she said with some regret in her voice. "We should have stopped him outside the walls of the palace and detained him instantly. Instead, he came that close to you. I fear that, over the years of being disbanded, we may have gotten rusty. Our skills aren't what they used to be. For that, I am truly sorry milady."

Ahsoka was surprised by her words, but she could sense how much this meant to Cira. "Cira, don't worry. Everyone is safe right? No one was hurt, he's been imprisoned. Everything worked out fine, didn't it?"

Cira took a deep breath. "You are right milady, still, his attack should have been prevented," she replied. "We didn't do our duty properly."

"Cira, stop talking like that," Ahsoka said with a slight frown. "Everything is alright. When I sounded the alarm, you were there in less than two minutes. Compared to some of the response times I've seen on Coruscant, that was just incredible. Please stop talking like this. I'm not going to be angry or upset with any of you if that's what you think."

Cira nodded and gave a small smile. "Alright milady, I'll let it go," she replied. "However, I promise you, we won't let this happen again."

Ahsoka smiled as well. "That's the spirit," she said. "I know that none of you will let me down."

The door opened and Aurora walked into the room. "Good news milady, we finished scanning your room and everything checks out fine. No explosives in or around it, it will be safe for you to return," she informed them. "However, two of us will be keeping watch outside the door, just to be sure. We do not know if the assassin was working alone."

"When I knocked him out and you secured him, the danger I felt through the Force faded, so I think he was alone," Ahsoka replied. "Still, I'm grateful for the offer. I just hope the rest of the night is quiet." She finished her drink and stood up.

"I think that's what we all would like milady," Cira said with a smile as she stood up as well.

;-

 _The following day_

Ahsoka was in the throne room, talking with Shaden Zadane, leader of the Shilian royal guard. They had interrogated the assassin earlier and he was now reporting their findings.

Shaden stood close to the throne in his full armor, his axe on his back. "The bounty hunter confessed to have been hired to assassinate you milady," he told her. "He also shared with us who hired him: the Night Thorn Syndicate."

Ahsoka frowned instantly. That gang of thugs had shown up on Shili the week before. They were there to see 'king' Reendorr. When they learned she was now queen, they had demanded to have an audience with her instead.

She had reluctantly agreed to see them. After the royal guards looked up who they were, Ahsoka didn't really want a band of criminals like them running through the city, so she let them in the palace to see what they wanted.

During their 'conversation', she really had to work on keeping her anger under control. Apparently, that slime of an usurper had negotiated a deal with them. He would get a large supply of credits and other valuables and in return, they would get a bunch of servant girls from the palace, either to keep as slaves themselves or to sell them on the slave market.

The way they had stood in the throne room, pointing out the girls standing in the room and demanding that they be handed over to them, Ahsoka truly wondered if she had ever been that furious with someone before.

She had somehow managed to keep her composure and ordered them to leave Shili immediately. If they tried to take any girl, they would be in serious trouble. Their anger with her had been very obvious. They vowed that she would regret breaking their deal.

Ahsoka turned her attention back to Shaden. "So they made the mistake of following up with their threat, haven't they?" she asked as she shook her head. "Such people disgust me, being so willing to turn others into their slaves and degrade and abuse them like that." She took a deep breath as a few memories of the entire mess of Kiros with the Zygerrians flashed through her mind again.

She focused her attention on Shaden again. "Do you have any idea where they are now?" she asked him.

Shaden nodded, a sense of determination resonating from him. "Yes milady, we do," he replied confidently. "We followed them last time and made sure that they left Shili. We registered their ship while we did so. Our scanners showed that it landed in the scrublands of Shili somewhere during the night, in the general vicinity of three tribes. It seems that apart from trying to have you killed, they also want to collect on their rotten 'deal'."

"Those disgusting…" Ahsoka took a deep breath and worked hard on releasing her anger. "I will not allow scum like them to harm our people. You have their exact location?"

"Yes milady, we do," Shaden replied. "With your permission, I will assemble a group of warriors and go deal with them personally. We will send a clear message that the people of Shili will be safe under your rule."

"Oh, you definitely have my permission," Ahsoka said as she stood up from the throne. "When do you expect we can leave? I want to deal with them before they have a chance to hurt anyone from the tribes. Get some fighters in the air as well, just in case they try to get away in their ship."

Shaden's face remained calm, but a sense of concern did flicker from him. "Don't worry milady, we will make sure that they don't have a chance of escaping," he told her. "However, I must ask that you leave this to us. Please remain here in the palace."

Ahsoka looked at him, surprise clearly visible on his face. "Don't worry Shaden, I grew up as a Jedi and I fought in the war for years. I can easily deal with a group of thugs like them," she replied.

"I do not doubt your skill Ahsoka," Shaden said as he walked a little closer. "but this group has already tried to get you killed once. I do not want to risk your life in such a way milady. You are our queen now. All of Shili is counting on you to lead them. Your life is too valuable."

Ahsoka couldn't deny that he had some good points, but it was hard for her to accept it and do nothing about it herself.

Shaden noticed her reluctance to accept it. "Milady, as your royal guard, it's our duty to protect both you and the people of Shili," he told her. "Trust in us to handle them. We will not allow them to get away with this."

Ahsoka sighed a bit. "I do trust you Shaden, do not doubt that, please," she replied. "It's just that… having been a Jedi all my life, I'm used to taking action myself. I never hesitated to throw myself in harm's way in order to protect others. Not doing anything in this situation just doesn't make me feel right."

Shaden gave her a slight smile. "You have a good heart milady," he told her. "But you are taking action. Part of being a queen is sending out others to take handle certain situations. In this case, you are sending us to deal with a threat to our people. You are doing what is expected of you as queen."

Ahsoka nodded, even if she was slightly irritated by it. "You're right, but that doesn't mean that I have to completely like it," she replied. "Very well then, commander Zadane, see to it that these criminals are dealt with. Assemble your team, go after them and protect our people."

Shaden smiled and saluted. "I will milady, rest assured that we will do so," he said. "I will gather the others and we will depart immediately." He gave a quick bow and started to make his way out of the throne room.

Ahsoka watched him leave and sighed. " _After so many years of taking action myself, staying behind like this feels really strange. Shaden and the others can take care of them, I'm sure of that. I just hope that nothing bad happens to any of them or the people of those tribes._ "

She shook her head and stood up from the throne. She had an appointment with T'Rani, but after the attempt on her life that had been postponed a few hours. She started making her way towards one of the doors at the side of the throne room. Two servants came up to her. "I'll be in the gardens. Please have someone let me know when Senator Corso gets here," she asked them.

"Of course milady," one of the girls replied as they both bowed. Ahsoka nodded to them and made her way to the gardens to relax a bit.

;-

 _A few hours later_

Ahsoka and T'Rani had finished up their meeting and walked out of the room. They had spent some time discussing other recent events happening on Shili, as well as some new safety measures that could be implemented in the space ports to prevent such dangerous individuals from setting foot on the planet again. It had been a lengthy talk, but Ahsoka didn't mind. The senator was good company and she really cared for the people of Shili, just like Ahsoka herself did.

T'Rani looked at their young queen, some concern still present in her. "Ahsoka, I hope you don't mind, but after hearing what happened I have to ask: are you doing alright?" she asked.

Ahsoka looked at her and nodded. "Yes, don't worry T'Rani, I'm fine," she replied. "It's not exactly the first time someone has tried to kill me. The reason was just different now." She shrugged. "I'm just a little worried about everyone's safety with that gang on the loose. Not directly taking action myself is just something that I'm not used to."

"Don't worry milady, I remember seeing captain Zadane and the other warriors deal easily with all kinds of different crooks. They'll make certain that this gang is dealt with swiftly," T'Rani said in return. "I'm sure that they will return shortly with some good news."

"Believe me T'Rani, I don't doubt their skill, not one bit," Ahsoka said with a smile. "I guess I'm just a little stressed out by all of this."

"I don't think anyone can blame you for that, so don't worry about it," T'Rani replied. "The rest of the day should be free of meetings, so maybe we can find something relaxing to do."

"Maybe," Ahsoka said as she thought about it. A little idea came to her. She had talked with a few royal guards the week before. Apart from their regular training, they were also very qualified pilots. The way they had talked about their fighters had made her quite eager to give them a little test flight herself. "Hmm, the fighters of the royal guards should all be in the hangar and ready to fly, right?" she asked innocently.

"Yes…" T'Rani replied slowly, unsure of where she was going with this. "Why do you ask?"

Ahsoka just gave her a smile in return and started heading in the direction of the hangar. T'Rani's face paled slightly in worry as she hurried after her.

;-

Shaden Zadane sat in the transport with his fellow warriors. They had been successful in dealing with that group of criminals. When the warriors arrived in the area, their targets were busy harassing one of the tribes that made their home there.

It was not a sight that made him very happy. Three of the male hunters of the tribe were lying unconscious on the ground, bleeding from wounds caused by shrapnel launchers, not regular blasters. Five female teens from the tribe were also lying on the ground behind the group, bound up and gagged, meant to be taken away.

They had moved swiftly and effectively, placing themselves between the gang, the tribe and their captives, weapons drawn and ready to strike. He had made it very clear, they had one chance to surrender and only one chance. They chose to attack the warriors instead, it was their last mistake.

It took less than a minute. They might have been hardened criminals, but they were heavily outgunned by his group of warriors, not to mention that a few hidden hunters from the tribe also hurled spears at them and fired arrows from their hiding spots in the Turu grass. The gang had been too arrogant in their actions and they had paid the price for it. None of them remained.

Half of his group of warriors, mainly those trained more in medicine and engineering, had stayed with the tribe to help them recover and repair the damages caused by the criminals. Shaden himself and the rest had begun to travel back to Corvala, to report to their queen. Once their fellow warriors were finished, they would take the ship of the criminals and fly that back to the city.

What happened to that ship would be their queen's decision, but he hoped she would share his opinion of scrapping it. There was no denying that it was a ship for slavers and criminal scum. Several 'rooms' of the ship were obviously meant to hold others captive and torture them. The walls and floors were stained with their previous actions. It was a ship that should just be destroyed.

" _Speaking of ships,_ " he thought as he looked up to the sky. Three of their fighters were flying through the air, one of them flying very rapidly and pulling all sorts of intense maneuvers.

"Is one of the new trainees going for a little joyride or something?" Aurora commented next to him.

"It sure looks that way," Shaden replied as he observed the fighter shooting through the air. "As long as they don't damage the fighters, it's alright if they show of a little bit."

"Hmm… looking at those moves, it might be Varon or Silara demonstrating what our fighters are capable off," Aurora said as she followed the fighter as well. "There's no way that a new recruit would be able to fly at that level."

"Guess we'll find out soon enough, let's continue to the palace," Shaden replied. The others sounded their agreement and they continued on their way.

;-

Shaden and Aurora made their way through the hangar to where Senator Corso was waiting for them. Upon seeing them approach, she smiled and walked up to them as well. "It is good to see the both of you. How did everything go?" she asked them.

"Senator Corso," Shaden replied as they saluted. "It went well enough. We took down that group, but they did wound a few of our brothers and sisters in the tribe. The others stayed with them to help them recover. They will return once they are done there."

T'Rani nodded. "I'm glad that they're dealt with. That bunch was too dangerous to allow them to roam around unchecked," she said. "Do they need anything in the form of supplies in the tribe?"

"The others will contact us later today to let us know. Once they do, we'll inform you senator," Shaden replied. "Where is the queen? I'm sure that she would like to hear our report as well."

T'Rani's face gained a bit of a worried expression. "When you returned to the city, did you happen to see a fighter flying around like crazy?" she asked them.

"Yes, we did. Why do you ask that?" Shaden replied, not understanding the question. T'Rani merely gave him a look and something started to dawn in his mind. His face turned to worry as well. "You don't mean…" he trailed off as he looked at the fighter pull off a few fast corkscrew maneuvers.

"Yes, that's exactly what I mean," T'Rani said as she looked up at the fighter again as well.

;-

Ahsoka smiled and was still a little giddy with the adrenaline as she landed the fighter back in the hangars of the palace. This had been exactly what she needed after the stresses from the day. " _The royal guards have some pretty nice fighters,_ " she thought as she got out of the cockpit. She looked to the side and saw T'Rani, Shaden, Silara and a number of other warriors and palace staff standing there with worry clear on their faces.

She smirked and walked up to them. "Your fellow warriors were right, these are some pretty sweet fighters," she told the group, amused by the feelings she felt through the Force.

Silara was the first to respond. "Ahsoka, what were you doing?" she asked in shock and worry.

"Just relieving some stress," she replied with a smirk. "I really needed that after everything that happened." She then turned her attention to Shaden. "Captain, how did everything go?"

Shaden wanted to comment about her actions, but seeing her standing there like that, her stance and that smirk on her face, it brought back memories of her mother doing the exact same things. He couldn't help the smile creeping onto his face. He shook his head slightly. "It went well enough milady," he informed her. "Unfortunately, those thugs were able to wound a few of the people from the tribe, but some of our fellow warriors stayed behind to help them recover and repair the damages. The criminals themselves refused to surrender, so we were forced to put an end to them."

Ahsoka nodded. "Well, I'm glad that they're dealt with. They were too dangerous to just ignore," she replied. She thought things over a moment and turned to T'Rani. "Can we schedule a visit to the tribe? I'd like to see how they are doing myself."

T'Rani smiled and nodded as well. "Of course milady, I'll get right on that," she said.

"That's great," Ahsoka replied with a smile. "I'll fly," she added with teasing smirk, causing a few startled looks amongst the others. She laughed and started walking towards the exit of the hangar, a few others following her, giving some slight protests.

 **;-**

 **That's the end of this chapter.**

 **Ahsoka had to deal with more problems caused by the usurper, but all ended well. The criminal group has been dealt with and the people of Shili are safe again. Ahsoka will continue to ensure that her people are safe under her.**

 **I'm going to work on The Hunt again next. This story will have two more chapters and I'm going to finish those both first. I want to pick up my other stories again and seeing as this mini story takes places in their time skip, it needs to be finished first. So, up next: Aisha's Akul hunt.**

 **Until next time.**


	8. Chapter 8 - A Puzzling Situation

**Chapter 8 – A Puzzling Situation**

 **Alright, this chapter is finished. I've decided to change my original plan for this chapter and split it in two parts. It was taking longer than I wanted it to and I got a little stuck on it, so I ended the chapter earlier than I had planned, but at a point where it is a natural break between two chapters.**

 **Hope you enjoy.**

 **;-**

Queen Ahsoka Tano walked though halls of the palace with Shaden Zadane, the leader of the royal guard of Shili. They were on their way to check up on the people working to inspect the cargo that they had taken from the ship of the Night Torn Syndicate, the group that had tried to have Ahsoka assassinated and abduct women from the tribes to keep or sell as slaves.

She had paid a visit to the attacked tribe the day before along with Senator T'Rani Corso and a number or royal guards. Fortunately, everything there was going well. The tribesmen that had been hurt by the criminals were recovering nicely and the warriors that had stayed at the tribe had already helped them repair the damage done to the settlement.

They hadn't really asked for it, but Ahsoka and T'Rani had also seen to it that the tribe would get some supplies to help them through the next few weeks while their warriors recover. The last thing that Ahsoka wanted was for them to starve, but the tribe would be fine now. They had been quite grateful for her kindness.

Ahsoka and Shaden walked into the room and looked around at the palace staff sorting through the goods taken from the thugs ship. All of the jewelry and other valuables that they had promised the usurpers in exchange for taking the palace girls as their slaves was in this room. With that gang now taken care off, they had taken the liberty of relieving the ship from its cargo.

"Just how many girls did that scum promise them?" Ahsoka said as she shook her head. With the amount of treasure that was here, one could buy a small city on certain worlds.

Shaden hummed a bit. "It might be best not to think of that. Leave his vile acts in the past and let us focus on the future now," he replied. He didn't want to imagine it himself and he especially didn't want their new queen to be focused on such things. She had been through enough already.

Ahsoka nodded in agreement and they continued to the person left in charge of sorting through everything they had pulled from the ship.

"Verana, how is everything going?" Ahsoka asked the red-skinned Togruta woman. She had been one of the first advisors to contact the palace, looking to take up her old job as financial advisor with quite some enthusiasm. Right now she was working with the palace staff to make an accurate inventory of the valuables takes from the ship. All of it would now be used to help Shili and her people, so they would need an idea of just how much wealth that scum had hoarded.

Verana turned to her and smiled. "Hello milady, we're making good progress," she replied. "There's still a lot of gems and jewelry we have to sort through and put a price on, but we already have a nice count of 400.000 credits in just the normal credits alone."

Ahsoka's eyes widened a bit. "Already 400.000 and you still need to sort through most of the stuff?" she asked a bit stunned. "Sheesh, I don't think I even want to know what they did to get such money."

"Yeah, I don't think I want to know either. Seeing as how they were here to take our people as slaves…" Verana shuddered a bit. "Never mind that now, we will make sure to put this money to good use. It will help Shili greatly."

Ahsoka nodded. "Yes, that it sure will. T'Rani still has a few renovation plans for Corvala," she replied. "A few of the other cities, including two on different continents of the planet, have also contacted her to discuss plans for renovations and new construction projects. Now that that slime is no longer stealing everything for himself, those projects can finally get started."

Verana nodded in agreement. "Yes, I have a distant cousin who works with the local government over on the southern continent. They had a few construction plans, but were never able to get the necessary funding. That will thankfully change now."

"We will make sure of that," Ahsoka replied with a smile. "I'll leave you to it. Do let us know when you have everything sorted out."

"Will do milady," Verana said with a smile and a slight bow. She then moved back to a few of the workers that were sorting through several pieces of jewelry.

Ahsoka walked around the room a bit more, checking in with a few of the workers and observing the pile of treasure for herself. She never had been that interested herself in fancy, expensive jewelry and the like, but this pile was nevertheless quite a sight to see. Something then caught her attention and she froze mid-step.

Shaden noticed her freeze and walked up to her immediately. "Ahsoka? Is something wrong?" he questioned, instantly ready to signal his fellow warriors to be on full alert. She was looking around slightly, with a hint of confusion on her face.

Ahsoka turned to him slowly. "Did you hear that?" she asked him.

Shaden shook his head. "I didn't hear anything unusual. What did you hear?" he asked her in return.

Ahsoka looked around again. "I can hear something, _feel_ something calling to me," she replied as she closed her eyes. "It's strangely familiar. I've heard this before, in a… much colder place. It sounds so similar." She opened her eyes and slowly made her way to the table where the rest of the items that they still needed to look over. Verana and Shaden joined her at the table as well, unsure what to make of her words.

Ahsoka looked over the table, something was calling out to her through the Force. She had heard this feeling, this _singing_ before. " _Ilum,"_ she suddenly thought. This sensation was similar to her Gathering, similar to the sound of her crystal calling to her in the caves. She reached out with the Force and found herself drawn to a small box that lay underneath a few other jewels. She took it from the pile and opened it. Her eyes widened as she looked at the orange crystal that glowed in the Force.

Verana leaned in and studied the crystal as well. "Hmm, something about that crystal looks different than the others we have here," she commented.

"That's because it is different," Ahsoka replied. "This is a kyber crystal, a crystal of the Force. The same type of crystal that is used as the heart of a lightsaber. I can hear it calling to me." She took the crystal from the box and held it in her hand. It resonated so brightly with the Force, it was a wonderful sensation. She slowly closed her fingers around the crystal, an image appearing in her mind. She turned back to Shaden and Verana. "I have a slightly selfish request."

"A slightly selfish request?" Shaden asked with some visible confusion.

"Yes," Ahsoka replied, a smile spreading on her face as she felt the warm glowing crystal in her hand.

;-

 _Two days later_

There was a wide smile on Ahsoka's face as she went through kata after kata, her new lightsaber swirling around her. The Force sang to her through the crystal, filling her with both a great sense of peace and joy at holding a lightsaber again. The orange blade hummed around her, glowing like a warm sun, giving light to all it touches. There was no reason to deny it, with a new lightsaber in her hand, she felt complete again.

The palace servants that she had sent out to gather some supplies for her had been quite confused when she told them what they needed to get. To them, it had seemed like a collection of random parts that they themselves wouldn't know what to do with. Ahsoka had merely smirked at their confusion.

Once the palace servants had brought her all of the parts, she had spent some time with the engineers and crafters of the royal guard. They really knew their craft and they had been great help in constructing the parts for her new lightsaber. They knew some slightly different techniques for shaping metal, that they had been happy to share with her, and the end result spoke for itself.

All of the components had been perfect and the crystal resonated happily with all of them. She had invited the palace servants that had gotten the parts to join her after that, so that they could see just what it was they had helped her with. Each of them had stared with wide eyes when she called on the Force and made all of the components combine around the crystal. Then she had taken her new lightsaber into her hand.

Her new lightsaber fit perfectly in her hand, a very comfortable weight as she practically danced around the open area in the garden as she went through all of the familiar moves. She switched from a one handed grip to a two handed grip, back to her preferred reverse hold and went through all the forms that she had practiced over the many years. A part of her almost felt like she was back in the Temple, practicing the forms as a younglings with her clan or training with Anakin either in the Temple, on the Resolute or somewhere else during their many missions.

After going through a few more of her favorite katas, she deactivated her lightsaber and clipped it onto her belt, next to her sash and her mother's katana. With a satisfied smile, she turned back to the spectators in the garden and walked up to them.

"That was quite amazing to see Ahsoka," Silara said with a smile. "You really are fast and graceful, and that weapon seems to suit you perfectly."

"Thank you Silara," Ahsoka replied happily. "I've always used a lightsaber and this one just feels perfect in my hands. The crystal is wonderful and with everyone's help, I was able to get some great components. I don't think that I could have made it any better."

"It is a wonderful weapon indeed," Shaden commented. "I just hope you will stay mindful of your position as queen and not go after every little trouble on Shili yourself."

Despite his slightly strict and professional tone, Ahsoka could hear the teasing undertone very clearly. She gave him a smirk. "How can I not? Especially since I know that all of you will be right behind me," she replied in a teasing tone. "Just make sure you get there before I finish handling the situation myself."

The warriors and servants in the garden all laughed at her words, a few of the warriors shaking their heads. Silara especially was entertained. She stood up and walked a bit closer to her. "You just sounded exactly like your mother did when she had officially become a princess of Shili after marrying your father," she said with a trace of nostalgia in her voice. "She loved messing with the warriors assigned to protect her as well."

"It sounds like we were quite a bit alike," Ahsoka replied with a smile. "It makes me wonder a little how things would have gone if Anakin and I had come to Shili and met her. I'm sure he would have loved to tease me about that." Her voice trailed off a bit near the end.

One of the palace servants walked up to her and lightly coughed to get her attention. "Excuse me, milady," the green skinned girl said. "But it's almost time for lunch. I heard that the chefs were going to make something special today. A few of the tribes living closer to the city sent a batch of fresh Akul meat as thanks for the help that you and Senator Corso provided."

Ahsoka looked at her and gave a light smile. "That sounds like a good plan. I could go for a good meal after that exercise," she replied. "So we got a special treat hmm? Can one of you contact T'Rani? It wouldn't be right if she doesn't get to enjoy it as well."

The green skinned girl nodded. "Of course milady, we'll get right on that," she said as she bowed her head. "Please enjoy the meal."

Ahsoka nodded back and began making her way to the smaller dining room that she preferred to use instead of the larger dining hall for larger gatherings. Silara and a few of the servants in the garden joined her while Shaden and the other warriors went back to their posts.

;-

 _A few days later_

Ahsoka was sitting in the palace garden, accompanied by a few palace servants. She was enjoying a nice tea break with the girls after what was becoming a normal daily routine for her these days.

She and T'Rani had a few meetings with dignitaries from the other cities of Shili, to see how everything was going in the cities and to discuss a few plans for the cities. After that, she had gone to inspect the cargo and supplies that captain Hardin, the engineer Riyec and the rest of their crew had collected on their last assignment. Then she had overseen the delivery of some of those materials to a construction site in the city and check on the progress there. All of those tasks completed, she had joined Silara and a few of the other warriors in their training, it was a great way to stay in shaped. To end her tasks for the day, she had done some more practice with her new lightsaber.

With everything done for the day, this nice quiet moment was a very welcome break. Lyra and a few of her friends had joined her on her 'order'. They were good company and it was nice to just relax for a bit with them.

After they had finished the tea, Ahsoka had gone for a little stroll through the garden. Lyra had joined her to keep her company, but Ahsoka also suspected that it was for a slightly different reason. She just had this little suspicion that Shaden, Silara and the others wanted to make sure that at least one person was keeping an eye on her, after that whole mess with that gang and their attempt to assassinate her, not to mention her little joyride with their fighter.

She couldn't help the slight smirk on her face. If she really wanted to do something, she doubted that they could keep her from doing it. That thought gave her a lot of ideas to mess with them if she felt like it. She kept that idea in the back of her mind as she and Lyra walked.

As she walked through the garden, she suddenly began to sense a strange feeling through the Force. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but it almost felt like something or someone was calling out to her. She took a few slow steps forward, her mind not registering the question from Lyra.

The strange sensation grew stronger and she couldn't help but feel drawn to it. There was nothing menacing or dark in this feeling, quite the opposite. She reached out with the Force to see what it was and a bright light surrounded her completely.

;-

Lyra looked at Ahsoka when she didn't reply to her question, which seemed odd to her, seeing as they had been talking the entire time. She looked at the young queen. She seemed to be strangely focused, staring at something that wasn't there. It confused her and worried her a little as well.

"Milady? Is something wrong?" she asked with a bit of concern. She didn't reply. "Ahsoka? What is it?" she asked again. Ahsoka remained silent and didn't answer her. She contemplated reaching out to her, as Ahsoka was still transfixed on something that she couldn't see, when suddenly, to her horror, Ahsoka just collapsed to the floor.

Lyra gasped in horror and didn't hesitate a second. She kneeled down next to her immediately and shook her shoulder, trying to get a reaction from her. "Ahsoka? Ahsoka!" she called out worriedly. She didn't reply or react at all. She quickly looked around and spotted one of her friends a short distance away. "Alana! Alana! Contact the doctors and the guards! Something has happened to the queen!" she called to her friend. Alana turned to her startled and the shock on her face was very clear to see. She quickly ran off to alert the other palace staff.

What happened next was a flurry of movement and Lyra struggled to keep up with everything. The palace doctors and guards had rushed to their position and had quickly taken Ahsoka to the palace medical wing. The warriors of the royal guard had make quick work of securing that area and also locking down the palace completely. While this was going on, two guards and a few medics extensively quizzed her about what had happened.

She explained everything the best as she could, but she just had no idea what could have happened. One moment they were talking together, nothing was wrong, and then she just collapsed without warning. There hadn't been anyone else nearby, save for a few of her friends. It didn't look like she had been hit by something. It couldn't have been some form of poison in the tea, they had all shared the same kettle. If that was it, then they all should be unconscious now. _"Us probably sooner than her, I'd wager. We don't have the Force to protect us,_ " Lyra thought in her worries.

Despite her stress and concerns, she recounted all of the details as best as she could for the medics and warriors. When there was nothing left to tell, the medics quickly thanked her and headed off. One of the warriors from the royal guard had tried to call her down a little, then told her to go and rest up. She had done what she could. She reluctantly agreed with him. There wasn't really anything more that she could do. She was able to make some very nice works of craft from wood and leather, but she wasn't a doctor. She shook her head and started to slowly make her way back home.

;-

Senator T'Rani Corso, leader of the royal guard Shaden Zadane, Silara Triball and numerous other warriors and palace staff were all gathered in a meeting room close to the medical wing of the palace and the room where their queen was now. Each of them was trying to get some answers to this situation. Their young queen had fallen into some form of unconsciousness, but no one seemed to be able to explain just what it was yet.

"So far, the doctors have ruled out many different forms of trauma, both physical and mental. Her blood showed no signs of poisons, toxins or drugs either. If it had, someone else would have shared the same fate as her, seeing as she always shared food and drinks with others," T'Rani told the others as she read the information from her datapad. "She's completely unresponsive, but they can't explain why yet."

"So, it's some form of coma?" Shaden asked, trying to keep a calm demeanor despite his worry.

T'Rani shook her head slightly. "They're not sure. They're measuring quite some brain activity from her, so it's not a coma, at least not one I'm familiar with," she explained. "Right now they just don't know."

"There must be something that they can do, right?" Silara asked worriedly.

"They're still running all sorts of tests," T'Rani replied. "They're monitoring her condition closely. Apart from the fact that she's unconscious and not responding to anything, she appears to be fine. They don't think her life is at risk, there are no abnormalities in her hearth rate, oxygen or blood pressure, but she just isn't waking up."

A silence spread through the room. No one seemed to know what to say or do. After a few minutes of contemplating the situation, Shaden stood up. "Alright, none of us like this situation, that much is obvious. Here is what we're going to do," he addressed the group. "Aurora, I want you to send out an emergency transmission to the warriors currently not on duty. I want everyone in the palace to make sure that no one is able to get in or out without us knowing." Aurora nodded in reply and began to write the message on her datapad.

"Senator, we need to make sure that the doctors have whatever they need. If they need something, get someone on it right away," Shaden continued. "I also want two of us standing guard in her room at all times. Silara and Cira, when we're done here, please relief the guards presently there. I will set up a timetable for others to switch out with you over time." The three women replied their agreements.

"The rest of us will investigate all of the places that she has been today further, just in case we missed something earlier," he informed the others. "I wish there was more that we can do, but there isn't, unfortunately. We will keep making sure that the palace is safe and that the doctors have what they need to help the queen."

The others in the room voiced their agreement, but it was clear by the general mood that they too weren't too happy with the situation. They would all prefer to do more, but they just couldn't do more but wait.

 **;-**

 **That's the end of the chapter for now.**

 **I know it leaves things as a cliffhanger, but it does serve as a breaking point between the now two chapters. As I said, it was taking me a lot longer to finish this chapter. Work has becoming increasingly more busy, seeing as my colleague has fallen ill, leaving me to take over a portion of her work on top of my own. Besides that, there's also some personal issues back home that aren't putting me in the best mood to write occasionally. Everything combined, I decided to break up this chapter and upload the first part now.**

 **The next update will probably be for my Barriss Story. She will be taking Scout as her Padawan in the next chapter and that is a part that I've been wanting to write for a little while now.**

 **I might also decide to do some work on a different one shot idea I had. I simply have too many ideas that I would want to work out and too little time to turn the ideas into actual stories. Nevertheless, this one shot might be a nice one to do.**

 **Until next time.**


	9. Chapter 9 - Answers

**Chapter 9 – Answers**

 **It's been some time again since my last update. There are just some events in my life that I have no control over and it doesn't leave me in much of a writing mood most of the time. Things are improving incredibly slowly, but it will take a lot of time still for everything to get back to normal. Updates on my stories will be slow and irregular. I'm not sure what stories I'll work on in what order.**

 **For now, I've finished this smaller chapter for Gift of Light. Ahsoka wakes up from a strange dream and discovers something a little shocking, but at least she has the answers she's been looking for.**

 **Hope you enjoy.**

 **;-**

Ahsoka Tano awoke slowly. Her dream, if it could really be called that, had been a strange one. Calling it a lucid dream wouldn't really do it as well. She had been fully aware, true, but she hadn't really been the one who was in full control of the dream.

Who would have thought, that someone like _her_ would visit her in her dreams and share such news. Yes, she was grateful to finally have some answers as to what exactly happened to her and how she had survived this nightmare, but she hadn't expected to learn it like this and she definitely hadn't expected the reason why.

She sat upright in her bed. She couldn't help but wonder, has there ever been anyone else who was visited by someone who was supposed to be dead? " _Become one with the Force I should say, I guess,_ " she thought. _"And everything she said that happened to me, what I have now become… It feels impossible…_ "

She shook her head and slowly got out of the bed. She walked over to the large mirror and studied her reflection. " _I certainly don't look any different. I don't really feel any different either._ " Right now, it was a very strange idea to her. " _Like I didn't have enough to get used to already,_ " she thought.

She decided to call on the Force ever so slightly, no levitation exercise, not a full meditation, but just slight connection, just to try it out. She noticed a difference almost immediately. The Force always spoke to her when she called on it, but now, it felt so much clearer. The Force practically sung to her, sharing peace and insights that she had never known before. It was similar to the sensation she felt when she was lighting the spires, only stronger this time. "Incredible…" she muttered softly as she withdrew from the Force.

She then heard the door open and turned to see who it was.

;-

Lyra walked through the halls of the palace, on her way to the queen's bedroom. With her unknown condition, her bedroom was currently under constant guard. There were only several people allowed near her bedroom now. She considered herself very fortunate to be one of those people. While there wasn't anything she could do for the queen in her condition, she could at least make sure that her room stayed clean.

She reached her room and turned her attention to the two guards standing in front of the door. She stood by calmly, letting them go through the procedure of checking her and her belongings before she was allowed into the room. She knew it wasn't a sign of mistrust, but just another precaution to ensure the queen's safety.

With the okay from the two guards, Lyra opened the door and froze instantly when she saw queen Ahsoka standing in front of the mirror, looking at her. She gasped in shock, causing the two warriors to instantly turn around to check the room as well. They too froze in shock.

;-

For a short moment Ahsoka just stared at her friend Lyra and the two H'Raani M'Kai warriors that stood frozen in the doorway of her bedroom. There was a great deal of shock echoing from them, but she didn't know why. "Uhm… What's going on?" she asked them softly.

The three stared at her like she'd suddenly grown two extra montrals. The male guard snapped out of it a bit and took a step back. Taking out a commlink, he quickly contacted someone.

Lyra took a few steps into the room. "M-m-milady, are… are you feeling alright?" she asked worriedly as she studied Ahsoka.

Her question only served to confuse her further. "Yes, why wouldn't I be?" Ahsoka asked her and Cira, she recognized the warrior now that she had also stepped inside the room. Cira and Lyra shared a look that she couldn't really place.

"Milady, Ahsoka," Cira began slowly, "you fell into some kind of coma seven days ago. You've been completely unresponsive and wouldn't wake up at all."

Hearing that, Ahsoka's eyes widened. Yes, the Force-dream she experienced had obviously taken some time, but a whole week? She frowned and turned to the desk in the room. She picked up her datapad and checked it for the date. Her eyes widened again in shock as she realized that a week had indeed passed. "Oh wow…" she muttered softly, seeing the evidence but finding it hard to fully believe it.

Cira walked up to their young queen. "Milady, please sit down for now. At least until the doctors have had a chance to look you over," she gently suggested to her. "Just to be safe, please."

Ahsoka turned to her and nodded, some confusion visible on her face. She moved back to the bed and sat down on it, trying to wrap her mind around everything.

It only took several minutes but then her bedroom was suddenly filled with several doctors, a couple of other H'Raani M'Kai warriors and senator Corso. Their concern for her was radiating very clearly through the Force. She was feeling fine, if a little different now with how the Force was flowing through her. Still, to put everyone at ease, she let the doctors to their checks and answered all of their questions. The fact that the doctors declared her healthy seemed to put everyone a bit more at ease.

Silara walked up and sat down next to Ahsoka on the bed. "Are you feeling well, Ahsoka?" she asked gently. "We've been quite worried about you. I think you nearly gave poor Lyra a heart attack when you passed out."

"I… see…" Ahsoka replied slowly as she looked around the room. "Well, sorry everyone. I certainly didn't mean to worry any of you. I just followed a feeling in the Force and then apparently a week had passed."

"I'm sure you didn't mean to Ahsoka," Silara replied. "But, do you know what happened exactly?"

Ahsoka turned to her and nodded. "Well, yes, I do now," she answered. "Strange as it all was, the Force did have some answers and insights for me that I really needed."

Those words sparked quite some interest and curiosity in the room. "I see, well, that's good news I suppose. Can you tell us what you learned or is it something personal?" T'Rani asked her.

Ahsoka looked at her and the others in the room, thinking it over. "No, I can share it with you, but…" she paused a moment. "I'd need to tell you about a mission from when I was still with the Jedi Order. That mission was considered highly classified, so we'd need to see what we can tell the public about this T'Rani."

"I understand, don't worry Ahsoka, we'll figure that out later," T'Rani said with a small smile. "Don't let that trouble you now."

Ahsoka nodded. "Alright, where do I start?" she asked herself. "It started when the Order suddenly received a distress signal. Considering the war, that wasn't such a strange thing. However, what made this one special, is that it was a 2.000 year old Jedi distress code." There were some confused expressions in the room, but no one interrupted her.

"For safety reasons, myself, Master Skywalker and Master Kenobi were going to meet up with our troops before going after the signal completely. We were at the rendezvous point when our ship was suddenly pulled into some unidentified object. A blinding white light overtook us and we all lost consciousness."

"When we woke up again, our ship was landed. We were suddenly on this strange planet. There, we met three powerful beings that were incredibly strong in the Force. They called themselves 'Force Wielders'. With their power, you could almost call them gods probably. I'm almost certain that there are plenty of people in the galaxy that would call them deities."

"Those three beings represented different aspects of the Force," Ahsoka continued to explain. "The Father was the image of balance, the Daughter represented the Light and the Son the Dark. The Father had some kind of test he wanted Anakin to face. When everything was done, we were able to leave the planet again. Unfortunately, the Son had become obsessed with Anakin's power. He wanted to use him to escape that planet. In order to succeed in that, he took me captive and cursed me. And later, when he felt that he had no more use for me, he killed me."

"That being killed you?!" Silara asked in shock. Everyone else had similar worried expressions.

Ahsoka slowly nodded. "Yes, he did. He then tried to murder his father so that he would be able to leave the planet, but his sister caught the blow, sacrificing herself to save their father. Anakin pleaded with the Father to do something to save me. In response, Daughter's last act was to give me her life force to revive me. She saved my life that day."

"It's only now that I fully understand everything that she has given me. She didn't just give me her life force, but all of her Force powers as well. She gave me so much…" She was silent a moment, thinking things over. "The powers that she had given me were sleeping inside me ever since that day. When… When I was executed by the Republic, it was her powers that prevented my death. They brought me back from the brink of death again. Her powers started to awaken inside of me after that. As a result, my body was struggling to adapt to all of that power suddenly flowing through me. That is also what caused that episode of sickness I suffered from when you took me in Silara."

"The strange episode I suffered from this week was to help my body and mind fully adapt to these powers. While I was unconscious, I experienced a rather different kind of dream. Her spirit manipulated and altered my dream so that she could explain all of this and help me to understand the depths of her powers. It was a really strange experience to be sure, but at least I finally got the answers I wanted."

The room was silent a moment as everyone struggled slightly to wrap their minds around the story that their queen had just told them. "That was some story milady," Shaden said as he kneeled by the bed. "In any case, it is a relief to see well Ahsoka. And I am glad that you got some of the answers that you needed. We will go and let the people know that you are doing well. You just take it easy for a moment." Ahsoka nodded and with that, Shaden, the other warriors and medical staff left her room, leaving her there with Silara and T'Rani.

Silara and T'Rani watched as Ahsoka walked up to the mirror and studied her reflection. It was clear to both women that she still had some things to work out. They were a little unsure of what to do now, especially after that story. "Ahsoka? Would you like to rest for a bit? We'll tell everyone not to disturb you then," Silara asked her after a short moment.

Ahsoka thought it over a moment. "I think I'd rather go for a walk and maybe get something to eat. I think I've slept enough for now," she replied.

Silara and T'Rani both chuckled a bit at her answer. "Alright then, how about we go and see what the chefs can cook up for us? I could do with lunch myself," T'Rani offered.

Ahsoka looked at her and gave a slight smile. "Yes, that sounds like a good idea," she replied. "Let's get going."

;-

Silara watched Ahsoka as she sat in the training area of the Royal Guards' barracks. Their young queen was calling on the Force, levitating numerous objects and weights in the room. After her earlier explanation, how she had been given great powers from some god-like being, Ahsoka wanted to take some time to familiarize herself with this energy.

She would be the first to admit that she wasn't very familiar with how the Force and Its mystical energy works. Even though she couldn't touch the Force herself, she couldn't deny that Ahsoka now held some aura of power. But it didn't feel threatening or menacing, not at all. It was a warm and gentle aura, like Ahsoka herself is by nature, like how she remembered her old friend Ashaiya always was. This aura suited her perfectly.

It was amazing to see her like this. Many objects were floating in the air around her. To her it seemed like something that would be a massive strain on one's mind, yet Ahsoka's expression was one of relaxation. She seemed to be at peace with this Force energy flowing through her. Silara said a little prayer to ask the mysterious Force to keep looking out for her.

She continued to watch as Ahsoka called on the Force for about ten more minutes. After that, she slowly set everything back where it belonged. The young queen opened her eyes and stood up again. The way she stood there, Silara thought it looked like she just had a very restful sleep. She seemed full of energy and quite at peace. Again she marveled at the mysterious Force.

She walked up to Ahsoka. "That was impressive to see Ahsoka," she said honestly. "How are you feeling now?"

Ahsoka smiled at her. "I'm feeling alright. It's still going to take a bit of time to get fully used to all of this power, but I'll get there eventually. This energy feels amazing," she replied. "At least I can control it enough so that I don't accidentally blast down a wall or something. It feels strange to say, but I feel like I could easily tear down half the palace if I'm not careful."

Silara's eyes widened a bit. "The Force truly is something beyond my comprehension," she said. She shook her head. "Are you ready to go and see T'Rani again? The two of you can decide on what we can tell to the public about your whole experience. I'm sure that seeing you again will put everyone a lot more at ease."

Ahsoka nodded. "Yes, let's go. The people do deserve to know. I'm just not sure on how much we can share. In some ways, it's still a very surreal story for me as well, despite the fact that I've experienced all of it." She shook her head. "Let's just go and see T'Rani. She might already have some ideas about this."

"Such things are part of her job after all," Silara commented as they began to make their way out of the barracks. "And don't worry, we'll take care of everything else that needs to be done in the meantime."

 **;-**

 **That's the end of this chapter. It turned out a bit shorter than I had originally intended, but it's fine for now. The next chapter will hopefully be longer again. I just need to see how I want the events of this story to progress now.**

 **Like I said, my updates will be irregular. I'm just jumping between stories at the moment. I might write the first chapter for a different story idea that I've wanted to do for a little while now. Another idea that I've been thinking about is to revisit my older chapters and polish those up a bit. I might decide to visit Rebirth of Light and change the spacing of the text and fix grammar mistakes here and there. The story will remain the same of course.**

 **Until next time.**


	10. Chapter 10 - Confusion and Fear

**Chapter 10 – Confusion and Fear**

 **I was thinking about my story Gift of Light when a nice idea for it popped into my head. Now there's a new chapter. Funny how that goes.**

 **Hope you enjoy.**

 **;-**

She eyed the clothes hanging on the racks outside the store. She really didn't want to do this, but she didn't have much of a choice. She couldn't keep wearing this. People would recognize it way too quickly and that would lead to a lot of trouble very fast. She looked around, there were barely any people around. She waited until the couple close by turned around the corner, then quickly moved.

The workers in the store were busy with their customers, so she was able to grab some new clothes and run off before she was noticed. She hated that she had to do this, but her options were limited. She felt guilty as she ran through the small alleys of this part of the Coruscant Underworld to get away further. Eventually, she found herself in an abandoned neighborhood.

She looked around and stretched out with the Force. There was no one here and more importantly, she couldn't sense any trace of her many pursuers. With a bit of a relieved sigh, she started checking the area. This old neighborhood looked like no one had been here for at least a dozen years, perhaps longer, there were so many lost and forgotten areas on Coruscant several levels underneath its surface.

After looking around for a couple of minutes, she settled on a smaller building in a side street. It looked relatively intact and dry, plus the windows were still whole, yet very dirty, but that only meant that no one would be able to see inside.

She carefully opened the door and went inside. The place looked alright, just dusty and worn down, but that was fine. The living room was still furnished. With a heavy sigh, she placed the stolen clothes on the small table and sat down on the couch, some dust floating around due to the sudden movement. Satisfied that she was now safe for a moment, Barriss Offee finally relaxed a bit.

She was so lost. She had no idea what was going on anymore. At one moment, it had been a normal mission. She had just finished talking to her Master over the holocom and spent some time meditating. She had gone out to discuss the next stage of their operation with her troops and then nothing. Her mind was blank after that. There were no memories, nothing.

Her next conscious thought was waking up in crashed transport on Coruscant. Needless to say, she was immensely confused. To add even more to the confusion, and terror, it was a prison transport. Even worse, _she_ was the prisoner being transported. Seeing the prison uniform on her person was a bizarre and unnatural shock. The Force restraining cuffs on her wrists were malfunctioning. Unsure of what was going on, she had quickly used the Force to rip them off in reflex.

Suddenly, a familiar voice called out. "Offee is loose! Get her!"

She looked to the side and saw several clone troopers. Clone troopers that were readying their blasters, aiming at _her_! "What…?!" she tried to speak, but then had to quickly duck to avoid a bolt that would have taken her head off. Survival instincts honed in the war kicked in and she rushed to get away. She got out the ruined transport and quickly ran, relying on the Force to dodge the bolts flying towards her. She had no idea what was going on, but she wasn't going to suddenly attack these clones.

There was a sensation in the Force, telling her to leap of the edge of the level she was on, so she did. After falling for an uncertain number of levels, she landed carefully with the Force. Some people were staring at her in shock. They certainly weren't expecting someone to suddenly land in the middle of the street. The surprise and shock of these people quickly transitioned into rage, fear and anger as they seemed to recognize her. Uncertain of what was happening and afraid, she quickly ran away. Clone troopers in speeders suddenly flew after her, trying to take her down, so she had escaped into some smaller alleyways. A large cloth that was hanging outside a building served as a makeshift robe to hide the very recognizable prison uniform and she finally had a moment to catch her breath.

She ripped off some pieces of the outer layer of the prisoner's uniform in an attempt to conceal herself a bit more underneath the improvised robe. She paid special care to insure that her face was covered. With that completed, she quietly moved away from the area. She hoped to try and find a way to safely contact her master to find out just what in the Force was going on.

She didn't have to wait that long. After reaching a slightly busier street, she quickly got some answers on the holoscreens in the street. The familiar sound of an emergency broadcast sounded through the street.

" _This is an emergency broadcast for everyone on Coruscant. Moments ago, the traitor and terrorist Barriss Offee escaped from her imprisonment. Coruscant Security urges everyone to be careful and report any sightings of the prisoner to the authorities."_

She was horrified. Her? A traitor? A terrorist? She watched the broadcast, trying to find out just what they were talking about. The more she saw, the more horrified she had become.

The Jedi Temple had been bombed?

Ahsoka was blamed for it, hunted down, captured, expelled from the Jedi Order and then sentenced and executed by the Senate?!

After that, a new investigation had revealed that Ahsoka had been innocent all along and she had been killed unjustly.

If things hadn't been worse enough, the reporters then named _her_ as the one responsible for the bombing. The mastermind that had killed Jedi, clone troopers and innocent civilians alike. The monster that had framed her best friend and got her executed.

A state of shock had overtaken her then. The screen had changed to a scene in a courtroom where she had given a strange speech, denouncing the corruption of the Jedi Order before she was sentenced to life in prison.

She had no idea what was happening anymore. She had no memory of any of this happening. She also had no time to figure out more as some people began pointing at her. She quickly made herself scarce from the area.

Barriss took a deep breath and looked through the clothes she had stolen, to see what she could make from them. She tried to make sense of everything. She had no memory since talking to her Master, but somehow she had caused a massive terrorist attack on her home and was responsible for the death of her best friend. She had no idea how any of this was possible, but it was obvious that she had no friends on Coruscant. She had to find a way to get away from this planet and then try to get some answers.

Having made something suitable to wear from the stolen clothes that would also help her mask her identity, she changed into them. She would look into changing her tattoos later, for now she needed some rest. She made her way through the house to see if the bedrooms were still somewhat intact.

;-

Barriss cried out in pain and held her head as the pain burst through her mind. She had never felt anything as agonizing as this. It felt like her head was splitting open. Like something was clawing inside her brain, trying to get out through her skull. She tried to use the Force to rid herself of this pain, but could barely even touch It.

After several horrible minutes, the pain thankfully subsided. She laid on the bed, unable to move for a bit as she struggled to recover. Once she felt a little better, she got out of the bed. She didn't know what brought on this terrible headache, but she couldn't afford to dwell on it now. She had to get off the planet. If everyone truly believed that she was responsible for everything, if she really _was_ responsible, then everyone was after her.

If she stayed on Coruscant, then not only would the clones be after her, every single Jedi on the world would too. Seeing as the clones immediately opened fire on her, she doubted that she would have any chance to survive an encounter with anyone. She just had to get away from here and try to get some answers.

The bathroom of the house still had some old bits of make-up left from whoever had lived here. She wiped the mirror clean and took some of the darker face paint. As much as she didn't want too, she would have to change her tattoos. They would make her too easy to identify. As proud of them as she was, she would have to hide them now. With a shaky breath, she moved the brush to her face.

;-

Barriss carefully walked in the shadows surrounding this smaller spaceport. Earlier, some pickpocket had tried to rob her, but she had swiftly turned the tides on him without him realizing who she was. The credits that he had on him had helped her improve her disguise somewhat. The clones wouldn't be able to identify her on sight now. With better make-up and a new change of clothes, she looked like a completely different person. These clothes were different than her usual attire and showed more skin than she usually showed. It made her feel somewhat uncomfortable, but at least she was a bit safer now.

She was also grateful for the lessons that her Master had given her in masking her Force signature. It really helped now. From what she had seen on the holoscreens, there were a lot of Jedi out over Coruscant to locate her. The thought that her fellow Jedi were hunting her made her feel very cold. It all felt like such a horrible nightmare, but it didn't seem that she was going to wake up.

Security at this spaceport was tighter than usual, but at least it seemed like there were no other Jedi around. That at least gave her a little advantage. All she had to do was figure out which ship she could sneak aboard on. The destination didn't really concern her, as long as she got off the planet. Whatever ship was the first to depart, she would try to get onboard it.

She relied on the Force, very slightly tapping into It so that the Jedi wouldn't pick up on her whereabouts. She slowly tracked around the spaceport until she came across something.

A short distance away a Togruta male was arguing with a few of the spaceport personnel. Apparently he and his crew were scheduled to depart in thirty minutes and they intended to depart on time. She couldn't get the whole conversation, but there was something about supplies that were needed, so they weren't going to depart any later.

She could hear her name being mentioned as well. Was there some kind of lockdown on the spaceports? Personnel with life form scanners approached their ship to check it out. After about ten minutes, their scans were done and the crew was given their permission to depart.

" _Now I just need to time this right,_ " Barriss thought as she watched the spaceport personnel leave. The crew of the ship was loading up the last of their cargo and prepping everything for departure. After everything was done, the crew boarded. Relying on a flicker felt through the Force, Barriss quickly ran up and boarded the ship.

The ship had a fairly large cargo bay, so she hid herself away in a small corner behind some equipment that seemingly hadn't been used in a bit. She stretched out with the Force a bit. The crew hadn't picked up on her sudden boarding and it didn't seem like any of the spaceport personnel had either.

After several tense minutes, the ship departed, easing her worries quite a bit. Now to just keep herself hidden from the crew and she could disappear on whatever planet they were headed to. She made sure that her hiding spot was secure. That someone entering the cargo bay wouldn't accidentally see her. Then she was clutching her head as another agonizing pain suddenly ripped through her mind.

She desperately called on the Force to quell the pain. It proved nearly impossible with the pain shooting through her head. She tried to direct all of the healing energy she could muster to whatever was causing the pain. Whatever it was seemed to fade again and it was all she knew as her world turned dark.

;-

A rumbling woke her up. Unsure of what was going on, she momentarily panicked. How long had she been out? What was going on? She quickly centered herself and listened.

The engines of the ship were shutting down. That meant that they were landed. She would have to pay attention now and get out quickly and quietly.

She stretched out with the Force. It proved to be with her, thankfully. She found the locations of the crew and others outside. The ramp lowered and some of the crew disembarked. She waited for the right time, then quickly excited the ship. She hid behind some large crates and surveyed the area. No one had spotted her. She waited for a few minutes until the right opportunity to leave presented itself. When the Force alerted her, she quickly left.

;-

 _Shili, royal palace_

Captain Cregan Hardin walked off the transport that had come to pick him up. He spotted the queen and the senator and made his way towards them. He didn't have anything special to report about their journey. There was just the news they had heard on Coruscant.

"My queen, senator," he greeted them as he bowed.

"Welcome back captain. How did the journey go?" Queen Ahsoka asked him with a smile.

"It went well milady. Standard trip, nothing special about it," he replied. "We almost had some delay on Coruscant because of a _situation_ there."

Senator T'Rani Corso frowned a bit. "Did something happen to your crew captain?" she asked slightly concerned. "That planet can be very dangerous."

"No, we're all fine senator. We just heard some unexpected news," he answered. He looked at queen Ahsoka, unsure of how she would react. "They weren't giving out much details about it, but apparently Barriss Offee escaped from prison."

Ahsoka's eyes widened in surprise. That definitely wasn't what she expected to hear. The Force stirred. Something strange was going on. She closed her eyes and concentrated, listening to what It had to tell her.

Senator Corso, captain Hardin and several of the guards looked at her. They had seen her do this before, calling on the mysterious Force to gain insights in whatever was going on. A frown spread on her face.

"Milady, is something wrong?" T'Rani asked her.

Ahsoka withdrew herself from the Force. "She's on Shili," she replied, shocking everyone around her.

"She's what?" Commander Shaden Zadane asked. Worry filled him. Barriss Offee was the one responsible for the Temple bombing and their young queen's death on Coruscant.

Ahsoka looked at the captain. "She came with you. She snuck aboard on Coruscant."

Captain Cregan looked at her in surprise. "Then she must have snuck onboard right before we took off. Coruscant security scanned our ship before we were allowed to leave."

Ahsoka closed her eyes again and concentrated on the Force. There was something off about this whole situation. The Force was definitely trying to tell her something.

"Milady?" Shaden asked her. "What do you want us to do? Offee might pose a great danger to our people. Considering all that happened on Coruscant, I don't think we can let her roam around unchecked."

Ahsoka opened her eyes and turned to face him. "Commander, please assemble a team of your best warriors. I will coordinate from here and lead you to her location." She paused. "Shaden, something is strange. I want you to bring her in. Please try to avoid hurting her if you can."

Shaden studied her a moment. "Ahsoka, are you sure she won't pose a danger to our people?"

Ahsoka thought it over a moment. "No, I don't believe so," she replied. "I sense something in the Force and I don't know what it is, but I intend to find out. I feel that there may be more to the Temple bombing than we now know."

Shaden nodded. "I trust your judgment Ahsoka. We'll do our best to bring her in unharmed." He gave a quick bow and took his leave, taking out his commlink to gather a team of warriors.

;-

Barriss Offee walked through the streets of the city. _"Corvala, I believe it was called. Why Shili, of all places?"_ she wondered somberly. Her disguise was still intact and news of her escape seemed to have not yet spread here, so there weren't any active armies hunting for her. Still, she kept to the smaller and quieter streets.

Still, being on Shili made her feel awful. The home planet of her friend Ahsoka, who had suffered and died for whatever it was that had happened to her. She felt horrible about it. Ahsoka had always been such a good and supportive friend to her, even when she felt that she wasn't able to return those feelings to her, withdrawn as she was.

" _At least she's free of the war. I hope she's at peace,_ " Barriss thought. Ahsoka never complained about the war and the Jedi's role in it, but she knew that her Togruta friend had suffered. She cared for her troops and on some missions, the 501st had suffered such great losses. It had hit her hard and she had tried her best to help her when she could.

Despite her worries and fears, some determination trickled into her mind as well. She didn't know what had happened, but she was going to find out. She owed it to Ahsoka to discover the truth, for both of them.

She just hoped that she would have the chance to do so. The clones she had encountered on Coruscant hadn't hesitated a moment to use deadly force against her. Every single clone would be looking out for her now. If the news spread, then all sorts of bounty hunters might come after her as well. Many of them seemed to have a sick lust for hunting and killing Jedi. They would definitely not pass up on a chance to legally kill a Jedi. The thought of such types coming after her made her shiver, despite the warm climate of Shili.

She prayed that if she was found, it would be a Jedi who found her. Hopefully her own Master, if possible. Master Unduli would know what to do in this situation. She stopped in the small alley that she was walking through. " _Maybe I can find some way to contact her. I don't think I can risk using the Force to contact her. The others could sense that as well._ " She was considering her options when the Force suddenly sparked.

She quickly looked around. At the end of the alley in front of her, four armed Togruta stood. She felt she already knew the answer, but looked behind her anyway. Four more Togruta stood there. She swallowed nervously. From both sides, two of the Togruta carrying melee weapons started to walk up to her. The others carrying blasters moved to their sides, covering them effectively. She doubted that she would be able to get away from them, especially without a lightsaber to deflect blaster bolts. She just had to hope that they wouldn't execute her straight away.

"Raise your hands, slowly," the large male in front of her ordered.

Barriss swallowed nervously. This male carried a large battle-axe that could easily cleave her in two without any effort. She nodded carefully and slowly raised her hands. She moved slowly and showed them that she had no weapons or anything, hoping that it would help her situation slightly. Then she grabbed her head and sunk to her knees as another searing pain attack shot through her head.

The group of Togruta backed up slightly, weapons drawn and ready to use them. Barriss couldn't even make them out if she tried. Her vision was blurry as her head felt like it was going to break to pieces. She was screaming, but she barely heard it. "Please… please, knock me out. It hurts, I can't," she managed to stutter out.

The blurs of the Togruta in front of her moved. Then she saw the blue flash of a stun bolt and her world went dark again.

;-

Barriss woke up feeling a little groggy. The side effects of being stunned, she knew that well. She noticed quite quickly that there were very sturdy looking cuffs on her wrist, that were chained to the bedpost of the bed she was lying on. The chain was long enough that she had some space to move, but it worried her a little nevertheless. Several 'stories' of being chained on a bed didn't end too well. She would know, having treated several people in the past that had suffered such nightmares.

She looked around the room. To her surprise, she wasn't in a prison cell, but in what appeared to be some kind of bedroom. It was well furnished and looked pleasant. It certainly was more luxurious than other places where she usually stayed as a Jedi. The spacious windows did have active ray shields in front of them and the doors looked too sturdy to break through without some kind of weapon. She didn't doubt that they were code locked.

Trying to do anything though might incur the wrath of her captors, so she decided against any actions that might unnerve them. She decided to wait until they came to do, whatever it was they were planning. She moved to a meditation position and tried to calm herself. All she could do was wait.

After about thirty minutes she could sense some movement right outside one of the doors. Several people were waiting outside, obviously preparing to enter. She took a deep breath and made sure her hands were visible, just in case. The door unlocked and three Togruta walked in.

She studied the three Togruta for a moment. They were armed and looked like very seasoned fighters. Their armor was familiar. " _Royal guards._ " She recognized it now from her studies in the Temple. These were Togruta royal guards, some of the best fighters on Shili.

One of them looked to the open door. "My queen," he said as he nodded.

Barriss swallowed nervously as a young woman walked in, who obviously was the queen of Shili, judging from his words and her appearance. She turned towards her and shock overtook her. She'd recognize that face anywhere. "Ahsoka? Is that really you?" she asked softly.

Ahsoka nodded. "Yes Barriss, it's me," she replied calmly. Her face betrayed no emotion. Trying to get a read on her in the Force proved impossible. Her presence felt so different, yet much stronger.

"They said you died…" Barriss said, voice quiet and shaky. She wasn't sure what to think or feel right now.

Ahsoka's gaze turned a bit fiercer. "I did die," she replied. "The Council couldn't be bothered to listen to me for a minute. They expelled me. The Republic couldn't be bothered to investigate anything or listen to me. They sentenced me to death. I was placed in death row, left to count down the minutes and then they killed me." She paused a moment. "Yet the Force had other plans, as should be obvious. Now, I think you owe me some answers. Don't you, Barriss?"

Her tone and the feelings coming from the guards made it clear what kind of situation she was in. Barriss took a nervous breath. "Ahsoka, please, I don't know what's happening…"

Something flashed in Ahsoka's eyes. "I suggest you come with something better than that." Her voice had a hostile tone in it.

Fear overtook her. "It's the truth! Ahsoka, I swear! I don't know," she said hastily. "The last thing I remember is talking to Master Unduli and then going to meet my troops. Next thing I know I'm in a crashed prison transport. Before I can find out what happened, clones tried to kill me. I barely got away from them." She took a shaky breath. "On the news… They said that I had done such terrible things and that you had paid for it. I… I just… I don't know what's going on anymore. Please…"

Ahsoka studied her for a moment. She could feel the Force pulse through the room as Ahsoka focused on her. Her presence was overwhelming. Barriss did her best to focus and control her mental shields. She tried her best to let Ahsoka into her mind, hoping that her best friend would see that she was telling the truth.

Ahsoka sighed and the pressure in the room relaxed. She signaled the guards and they put away their weapons. "That gives us some answers, but also more questions…" she said slowly.

Barriss was lost at this point. "Ahsoka… Please tell me, did those horrible things really happen?" she asked with a trembling voice.

"Yes Barriss, I'm afraid so," Ahsoka replied as she walked a bit closer. "The Temple was bombed. A lot of people died. I was framed for it and executed. Then it was revealed that I had been innocent all along. You were found out, captured and sentenced to life in prison. It sounds like a nightmare, but it is the harsh reality."

"But… How…" Barriss said softly as she looked at her friend. "I… I'm missing weeks in my memory. I don't…" She shook her head.

Ahsoka said something in Togruti to one of the guards and he handed her a datapad. "I believe that this might explain that." She opened up something on the datapad and handed it to Barriss.

Barriss took it and looked at the screen. It took her a moment to realize just what it was that she was looking at. Cold terror clutched at her heart.

"The Temple bombing was done by a woman called Letta Turmond. She had secretly fed her husband, a Temple worker, Nano droids, effectively turning him into a living bomb," Ahsoka explained. "When my guards brought you in and told me about your strange headache and _request_ to be knocked out, something felt very wrong to me. I had the doctors perform a medical scan on you."

Ahsoka gestured at the datapad. "You can see the results. There are Nano droids in your central nervous system. I can feel the stench of the Dark Side coming from them. Someone has been using you like a puppet. They made you do those horrible things, deal a terrible blow to the Jedi and kill me." She paused a moment. "I don't know why you were on that transport, but something obviously went wrong. Perhaps whoever was responsible wanted to take you somewhere else to do more awful things. I believe that when the transport crashed, you must have hit your head, causing those Nano droids to malfunction, freeing your mind again. When Gaven stunned you, they seemed to have shut down completely."

Barriss let the datapad fall to the bed. Her hands were trembling as she tried to take in everything that Ahsoka had just told her. It all sounded like a horrible nightmare, darker than anything she could have imagined, but it had really happened. "W-what now…?" she asked.

Ahsoka gave a short wave with her right hand. Barriss startled as the cuffs released from her wrists. Confused, she looked at Ahsoka. "You were an innocent victim in all of this Barriss, just like I was. You just rest for now. We'll look into a way to get those Nano droids out of you. You'll be safe here on Shili."

Barriss looked at her friend. Ahsoka gave her a reassuring smile. "Ahsoka, thank you," she said softly.

"Don't mention it Barriss," Ahsoka replied. "I'll leave one of my guards outside the door. If you need something, let them now. I'll ask the palace staff to check on you later as well. There's a fully equipped refresher through the other door, should you want to use it. I have a number of matters I need to discuss with Senator T'Rani, so I'll come to see how you're doing later, okay?"

"Y-yeah, okay," Barriss said, still in some shock. Ahsoka gave her another smile before she turned back to her guards. She told them something in Togruti. They nodded back and signaled something over a commlink. A moment later the ray shields at the windows deactivated and Ahsoka left the room with the guards. Barriss stared at the door for several minutes after her friend left.

She glanced at the datapad lying next to her on the bed. The scan results of her head still horrified her. She turned the screen off, not wanting to dwell on it any longer for now.

At least she was safe now. She had escaped to Shili without anyone on Coruscant noticing and it seemed that Ahsoka definitely wasn't going to let any of them know she was here. With her not having to worry about her safety for a moment, her mind finally caught on to something else.

" _Wait, Ahsoka is_ _ **queen?!**_ _"_ she thought in stunned surprise. It just hit her. Her old friend went from somehow surviving her execution to being queen of her home planet. She really wondered what the story behind that was. Perhaps Ahsoka would be willing to share it later.

It at least meant that she was really safe. After the chaos from Coruscant it felt a little difficult to believe. She felt a lot of tension leave her body. She got up from the bed and headed towards the refresher. She'd hopefully feel a bit more like herself again after some time to relax.

 **;-**

 **That's the end of this chapter.**

 **I like Barriss so I decided to bring her into this story. It'll add two chapters and perhaps some interesting scenes later in the story. There will be shocked reactions to Ahsoka somehow being alive. Seeing Barriss with her will just add more to that shock.**

 **I'll continue with revising my older chapters again and I think I'll also work on the next chapter for this story. Ahsoka and Barriss will discuss everything that happened on Shili to make Ahsoka queen.**

 **Until next time.**


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